Experimenting with Danger- CSB safety Video

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Thu, 03/02/2017 - 12:19
Description

This 2011 video by the Chemical Safety Board is a very serious and moving motivation for adopting safe practices in the chemical laboratory.  It focuses on two recent and very real safety issues in University labs (UCLA, 2008 and TTU, 2010 ), both of which have shaken the educational research community to result in positive change. 

I have shared a "SafeShare" link so that you will not have to listen to ads, and if you choose to play the link in your classroom, you will not see all the Youtube ads on the screen.  

Diverting Wilkinson's Catalyst: Critical Analysis of a Literature Paper

Submitted by Matt Whited / Carleton College on Tue, 02/21/2017 - 18:52
Description

This LO is a problem-set-style literature discussion that leads students through a critical analysis of an interesting but flawed paper from the recent chemical literature.  Students use the questions to help them work through the paper prior to class, providing plenty of raw material for an in-class discussion about various aspects of the work from a mechanistic organometallic perspective.  The questions help students critically analyze substrate tables, spectroscopic data, and computational results from DFT.

Iron Catalysts for Lactide Polymerization

Submitted by Anthony L. Fernandez / Merrimack College on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 21:11
Description

This set of questions is intended to guide students through an excellent article by Jeff Byers and co-workers that describes the us

Guiding questions for: Redox-Controlled Polymerization of Lactide Catalyzed by Bis(imino)pyridine Iron Bis(alkoxide) Complexes

Submitted by Abby O'Connor / The College of New Jersey on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 13:37
Description

This is a literature assignment for a junior/senior level course. Guiding questions are provided to assist students with reading the article so that they see the value and importance of developing catalysts for polymerization reactions. This assignment is based upon the article 

Synthesis and reactivity of palladium and platinum carbenes

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 11:32
Description

The literature discussion is based on a paper (Organometallics ASAP) in which the synthesis and reactivity of a palladium and platinum carbene compound. The palladium and platinum compounds exhibit some interesting differences that show up throughout the paper.

Reactivity of a platinum benzyne compound

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Mon, 01/23/2017 - 14:02
Description

The literature discussion is based on a paper by Gagné (Organometallics 2015, 34, 2707).  In this work, the in situ generation of benzyne is examined. The benzyne coordinates to a platinum center with a tridentate (pincer) phosphine ligand and a methyl group. This provides an opportunity to discuss the characterization of compounds that have NMR active nuclei that are not 100% naturally abundant. Protonation of the benzyne compound results in the formation of toluene. Different mechanisms are considered.

Nucleophilic attack at an iridium arene

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 15:23
Description

This literature discussion is based on a paper describing the nucelophilic attack on a coordinated arene (Organometallics, 2015, 34,

Reactions of Cp*2Zr(2,3-dimethylbutadiene)

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Tue, 01/17/2017 - 17:58
Description

This literature discussion is based on a paper detailing the structure and reactivity of the title compound (Organometallics, 201635,

Ruthenium catalyzed transfer hydrogenation

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Fri, 01/13/2017 - 11:06
Description

This literature discussion is based on a paper detailing catalytic transfer hydrogenation of various unsaturated organic molecules (Organometallics, 2016, 35