Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Thu, 01/12/2012 - 05:40
My Notes
Description

This learning object was developed with a lot of help from B. Scott Williams from the Keck Science Department of the Claremont Colleges for my junior/senior level course in 2009.   This object is a literature discussion on the topic, but Scott and I hope to add a 5-slides about learning object to go with it shortly.   The primary literature article used for the discussion is “Characterization of a Rhodium(I) sigma-Methane Complex in Solution,” by Wesley H. Bernskoetter, Cynthia K. Schauer, Karen I. Goldberg, and Maurice “Brook” Brookhart, Science, 2009, 326, 553-556.   This was done near the end of the course after students had gotten a brief introduction to organometallic reaction mechanisms and after they had learned about counting electrons.  I wanted a "real world" example that would allow them to apply what they had learned.    

Attachment Size
Proposed.cdx 5.73 KB
Catalytica.cdx 14.63 KB
Shilov.cdx 16.72 KB
methanetomethanolfinal.doc 50 KB
Learning Goals

Students will

  • be able to count electrons and assign oxidation states
  • be able to name elementary steps in an organometallic catalytic cycle
  • be able to read and understand a scientific paper
  • understand the significance of the quest to convert methane to methanol 
  • compare and contrast related chemistries 
  • use NMR data to infer and/or support structures 
  • be able to find the answers to your own questions
Implementation Notes

I actually did this assignment as an "Ask the Expert" session with my good friend B. Scott Williams who played an instrumental role in getting me up to speed on this topic.   After covering basic electron counting and some basic types of organometallic reactions including oxidative addition and reductive elimination, and a few catalytic cycles, I did a half day lecture on why we'd want to convert methane to methanol from an economic and environmental perspective (Scott and I are working on getting a 5-slides about on this topic but it isn't posted yet--hopefully soon).   After the introduction, I provided them with the 3 Chem Draw files with 3 different catalytic cycles (referred to in the handout and available below)  then asked them to complete the questions on both the cycles and the paper in groups of 3 for homework.   The next week we did a 1 h videoconference with Scott to go through the discussion questions.  After our conversation, the students were allowed to edit their work and turn it in the next day.   What was great about that interaction was his broader perspective as someone who has worked in the field.      

Time Required
1 hour class discussion plus a half a lecture before to set the stage
Evaluation
Evaluation Methods

In this case, students turned in their answers to the problems, but I gave them a chance to edit their answers after our discussion of the paper.  Graded as one of our "literature discussions" for the semester.    

Evaluation Results

 I did not collect assessment data the first time around, but I will do so when I use it again this semester! 

Creative Commons License
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike CC BY-NC-SA

Comments

James / University of Bath

Hilary Eppely,

 

I was wondering if you had the answer sheet to the questions provided in the word document?

Thanks

Sat, 11/17/2012 - 15:12 Permalink
Hilary Eppley / DePauw University

I have been meaning to post the answers--I have them basically done but need to clean them up a bit.  I will try to get them posted by the first of the year.  Unfortunately for you they will only be accessible to register faculty members, but if you have a faculty member willing to help you, you'd be able to get to them!   

Sat, 11/24/2012 - 08:18 Permalink
James / University of Bath

Hilary,


Unfortunately I would need them in the next week! 

Is there anyway you could email me them, messy answers would still be greatly appreciated

 

Regards

Sun, 11/25/2012 - 17:12 Permalink
Hilary Eppley / DePauw University

Just to reiterate, the answer keys are not available to undergraduate students.   Sorry!   

Sat, 12/01/2012 - 06:19 Permalink