Schlenk Line Survival guide

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Mon, 04/06/2020 - 14:11
Description

I feel like I've shared this resource before but I couldn't find it so maybe it will stick this time :)

This is a good resource created by "Dr. Andryj Borys, a main-group chemist, phosphorus fanatic and Schlenk line enthusiast." He is currently a postdoc in Canada, headed back to Europe in 2020 (supposedly..)

this resource describes the use of a Schlenk line in quite a bit of detail, with a variety of standard applications (cannula transfer, sealing NMR tubes).

Handling Air Sensitive Reagents and Working with a Schlenk Line (the COVID19 version)

Submitted by Lori Watson / Earlham College on Thu, 03/26/2020 - 13:18
Description

One of the features of the laboratory associated with my Inorganic chemistry course is learning to do some air sensitive chemistry using Schlenk lines (and sometimes gloveboxes).  Of course, COVID19 is keeping us out of the lab this year!  This is a collection of short web based resources (text and video) detailing begining use of a Schlenk line, something about drying and degassing solvents, and transferring liquids to a reaction flask.  It is accompanied by questions I am having students answer as part of the alternate lab I am creating in place of our usual organometallic lab experiemnt.

iPad Screen Recording

Submitted by Anthony L. Fernandez / Merrimack College on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 10:46
Description

Many faculty and students now have iPads and Apple Pencils for use in their classes. At Merrimack, we have a 1:1 iPad program (called Mobile Merrimack) in which all students and faculty are provided an iPad and students are also given an Apple Pencil and a keyboard.

Marvin suite from ChemAxon

Submitted by Anthony L. Fernandez / Merrimack College on Thu, 01/09/2020 - 12:10
Description

It is important for students to be able to effectively communicate the results of their scientific work. This does not only inlcude written and oral communication, but the creation of appropriate representations of the complexes they have investigated. It is crucial that students learn how to draw molecules using electronic structure drawing programs, but site licenses for structure drawing programs can be prohibitive for some institutions.

How to Read a Journal Article: Analyzing Author Roles and Article Components

Submitted by Catherine McCusker / East Tennessee State University on Wed, 01/08/2020 - 21:09
Description

This literature discussion uses a recently published article on solvatochromic Mo complexes to introduce students to the different components of a research article. The activity is divied into to two parts. Before class students read the paper and focus on defining terms, investigating the "meta" data of the paper, and the different sections iof the paper. In class the students work in groups to investigate the scientific content of the paper

Science Information Literacy Badge--Reading the Literature

Submitted by Michelle Personick / University of Virginia on Thu, 07/18/2019 - 12:07
Description

This is an activity designed to introduce general chemistry students to reading the chemistry literature by familiarizing them with the structure of a published article. The activity first presents an article from the Whitesides group at Harvard about writing a scientific manuscript, along with a video about the peer-review process. There are two parts to the questions in the activity, which are based on a specific article from Nature Communications (doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08824-8).

An improved method for drawing the bonding MO for dihydrogen

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Sun, 06/09/2019 - 14:42
Description
Most of us have probably been there. Discussing homonuclear diatomic MO diagrams and on the first day you want to put up the sigma bonding molecular orbital for H2. If you teach it like me, you emphasize the LCAO-MO approach, so you draw a hydrogen atom with its 1s orbital interacting with a hydrogen atom with its 1s orbital...and then you notice giggling from the less mature audience members. My technique will help to prevent this from happening. The technique is in the "faculty only" files section.

VIPEr Fellows 2019 Workshop Favorites

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Sat, 06/08/2019 - 16:41

During our first fellows workshop, the first cohort of VIPEr fellows pulled together learning objects that they've used and liked or want to try the next time they teach their inorganic courses.

Guideline for drawing chemical structures

Submitted by Brad Wile / Ohio Northern University on Fri, 06/07/2019 - 17:14
Description

This is the set of guidelines provided for authors by Nature Research. A 6-page PDF gives explicit guidance about rendering molecules using chemical drawing software, and a downloable ChemDraw template (.cds) is provided.

Subscribe to Professional Practices, Skills, and Resources