How to be a Successful Organic Chemist

34 As the table shows, each section serves a distinct purpose and function.We will now look at each section in detail, and focus on the general goals of each, followed by things to watch out for, and common mistakes. The section numbers #1-8 follow the sections used in the report forms at PSU. 6.2 The Why: The reasons for doing the experiment. Section 1: Title A single sentence that fully captures the main goal of the experiment. Section 2: The Purpose of the Experiment (1) General: This section should be a brief statement about the ultimate goal of the experiment.Thisaection should never be longer than two sentences, and in many instances kept to only one sentence. Common goals are the identification of a compound, the synthesis of a compound, or the purification of a mixture. Tech- niques (TLC analysis, IR spectroscopy, extractions) should be mentioned only when these were the means to achieve the goal, and not a goal, and not the goal in themselves. (2) Things to watch out for: The purpose must be result oriented, which means that general tasks like col- lecting data, performing calculations, getting results, and learning techniques, are inappropriate. Although learning to do new things is a top priority, it is never the purpose. (3) Some examples: Good: The purpose of the experiment was to synthesize benzoic acid through an oxidation reaction using bleach Good: The purpose was to identify an unknown compound using TLC-analysis and melting point analyses. Bad: The purpose of the experiment was to collect data and learn about recrystallization. Bad: The purpose was to perform a four step synthesis that involved acetylation, hydrolysis, condensation and reduction, and use several new lab techniques such as extraction and sublimation. The student should learn about IR spectroscopy too, and analyze the data obtained. 6.3 The How: How was the experiment performed? Section 3: Relevant Structures or Reaction scheme (1) General: Depending on the experiment, you should either supply structural formulas of the compounds you investigated, or provide a reaction scheme for a synthesis. Structural formulas should incorporate stan- dard bond angles and can be hand-drawn. Usually the required structures are the compounds you investi- gated and listed in the purpose, or the reactants and the products you obtained through a chemical synthesis. Solvents are typically not required, nor are drying agents or other work-up compounds. (2) Things to watch out for: Make sure that you provide structural, and not molecular formulae An example of the latter would be C 6 H 12 O 6 for glucose. Molecular formulas have their place in organic chemistry, but are relatively useless for your report, as they do not provide any clarity in which bonds have been formed or broken. Take care to draw your formulae thatobey standard drawing conventions, i.e. with correct bond-an- gles, and/or correct atom hybridization. If you are drawing a reaction, draw molecules in the correct order: reactants on the left side of the reaction arrow, products on the right. Reagents, catalysts, solvents, and other important reaction conditions are drawn above and below the arrow. Section 4: Procedure (1) General: The procedure should encompass the core of the actions performed in the experimentation. It should contain the essential information as well as your exact measurements.The procedure must be written