Facilitating Laboratory Research Experience
The September 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: reticular chemistry; laboratory research experience for students; historical perspective; chemistry and the environment; laboratories using color to understand chemistry; electrochemistry laboratories; DIY instrumentation; organic semiconductors; orbitals; computer-based learning and computational chemistry; from the archives: paper chromatography.
Cover: Reticular Chemistry
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged over the past two decades as classes of designable, porous, crystalline materials with exceptional structural diversity and tunable chemical functionality. Continued development of next-generation materials for numerous applications, including gas storage and separation, catalysis, chemical sensing, and electronics, relies on effectively training new scientists in the diverse array of computational, synthetic, and analytical techniques reticular chemistry requires. In Facilitating Laboratory Research Experience Using Reticular Chemistry, Steven J. Lyle, Robinson W. Flaig, Kyle E. Cordova, and Omar M. Yaghi describe a laboratory-research experience designed to equip upper-division undergraduates in chemistry and chemical engineering with these skills through exposure to synthesis, characterization, and applications of MOFs and COFs. Concurrently, students also develop skills necessary to communicate their future research accomplishments to the greater scientific community.
For additional content on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in this issue, see:
Environmental Application of Cyclodextrin Metal–Organic Frameworks in an Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory ~ Daniel R. Jones, Dana J. DiScenza, Teresa L. Mako, and Mindy Levine
For additional articles on facilitating laboratory research experience for students, see:
Fostering Undergraduate Research with a Nontraditional Student Population ~ Kate Ries and Sarah Dimick Gray
An Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Course as Research ~ Justin K. Pagano, Leslie Jaworski, David Lopatto, and Rory Waterman
Introduction to Research: A New Course for First-Year Undergraduate Students ~ Wei Chen
Project-Based Integrated Lecture and Laboratory Quantitative Analysis Course ~ Drew Budner and Brett Simpson
Investigating the Determinants of Substrate Binding through a Semester-Long, Project-Oriented Biochemistry Laboratory Course ~ Catherine A. Sarisky and Timothy W. Johann
Historical Perspective
Impacts of the 2018 Division of Chemical Education Bylaw Changes on the Division’s Executive Committee Composition and Work ~ Marcy H. Towns and Thomas A. Holme
Is the Gender Climate in Chemistry Still Chilly? Changes in the Last Decade and the Long-Term Impact of COACh-Sponsored Workshops ~ Jean Stockard, Jessica Greene, Geraldine Richmond, and Priscilla Lewis
The Ultimate Limit in Measurements by Instrumental Analysis: An Interesting Account of Schroteffekt and Shot Noise ~ M. Farooq Wahab and Arved E. Reising
Chemistry and the Environment
Demonstrating CO2 Sequestration Using Olivine and Carbonated Beverages with Secondary School Students To Investigate pH and Electrical Conductivity Concepts ~ Johan A. Linthorst and Johanna van der Wal-Veuger
Easy Illustration of Salt Damage in Stone ~ Francesco Caruso, Timothy Wangler, and Robert J. Flatt
Laboratories Using Color to Understand Chemistry
Analysis and Identification of Major Organic Acids in Wine and Fruit Juices by Paper Chromatography ~ Dulani Samarasekara, Courtney Hill, and Deb Mlsna
From Observation to Prediction to Application: A Guided Exercise for Liquid–Liquid Extraction ~ Tevye C. Celius, Ronald C. Peterson, Amelia M. Anderson-Wile, and Mitchell Kraweic-Thayer
Visualization of Phase-Transfer Catalysis through Charge-Transfer Complexes ~ Marcos Caroli Rezende, Carolina Aliaga, German Barriga, and Matías Vidal
Electrochemistry Laboratories
Photochromic and Electrochromic Diimide Synthesized Simply from Inexpensive Compounds: A Multidisciplinary Experiment for Undergraduate Students ~ Taleb Abdinejad, Mohammad R. Zamanloo, Taher Alizadeh, Nosrat O. Mahmoodi, and Shima Rahim Pouran
Complementary Use of Electrochemistry and Synthetic Redox Chemistry in the Oxidation of Decamethylferrocene: An Integrated Advanced Laboratory Experiment ~ William E. Geiger
Using a Simple, Inexpensive Undergraduate Isoelectric Focusing Experiment for Proteins and Nanomolecules To Help Students Understand Isoelectric Point and Its Real-World Applications ~ A. Sharma, H. Kopkau, and D. Swanson
DIY Instrumentation
An Easily Fabricated Low-Cost Potentiostat Coupled with User-Friendly Software for Introducing Students to Electrochemical Reactions and Electroanalytical Techniques ~ Yuguang C. Li, Elizabeth L. Melenbrink, Guy J. Cordonier, Christopher Boggs, Anupama Khan, Morko Kwembur Isaac, Lameck Kabambalika Nkhonjera, David Bahati, Simon J. Billinge, Sossina M. Haile, Rodney A. Kreuter, Robert M. Crable, and Thomas E. Mallouk
Plate Reader Compatible 3D-Printed Device for Teaching Equilibrium Dialysis Binding Assays ~ Cody W. Pinger, Andre Castiaux, Savannah Speed, and Dana M. Spence
Review Article: Organic Semiconductors
Introduction to Organic Semiconductors Using Accessible Undergraduate Chemistry Concepts ~ Kevin L. Kohlstedt, Nicholas E. Jackson, Brett A. Savoie, and Mark A. Ratner
Orbitals
Hands-On Hybridization: 3D-Printed Models of Hybrid Orbitals ~ Riccardo de Cataldo, Kaitlyn M. Griffith, and Keir H. Fogarty
Using the Force: Three-Dimensional Printing a π-Bonding Model with Embedded Magnets ~ Felix A. Carroll and David N. Blauch
Student-Friendly Guide to Molecular Integrals ~ Kevin V. Murphy, Justin M. Turney, and Henry F. Schaefer, III
Practical Training in Simple Hückel Theory: Matrix Diagonalization for Highly Symmetric Molecules and Visualization of Molecular Orbitals ~ Shin-ichi Nagaoka, Tatsunobu Kokubo, Hiroyuki Teramae, and Umpei Nagashima
The Pauli Principle: Effects on the Wave Function Seen through the Lens of Orbital Overlap ~ David R. McMillin
Orbital Configuration: Terms, States, and Configuration State Functions ~ Joseph M. Brom
Computer-Based Learning and Computational Chemistry
Approximate Relations in pH Calculations for Aqueous Solutions of Extremely Weak Acids: A Topic for Problem-Based Learning ~ Renata Bellová, Danica Melicherčíková, and Peter Tomčík
Simulation Approach to Learning Polymer Science ~ Harith H. Al-Moameri, Luay A. Jaf, and Galen J. Suppes
Introducing Quantum Chemistry in Chemical Engineering Curriculum ~ Mohammednoor Altarawneh and Bogdan Z. Dlugogorski
Trends in Bond Dissociation Energies for the Homolytic Cleavage of Successive Molecular Bonds ~ Julie Donnelly and Florencio E. Hernández
Comment on “Learning To Read Spectra: Teaching Decomposition with Excel in a Scientific Writing Course” ~ Liudmil Antonov
Research on: Organic Chemistry Mechanisms; ACS Inorganic Chemistry Exam; Resources for Quantitative CER
How Are Students Solving Familiar and Unfamiliar Organic Chemistry Mechanism Questions in a New Curriculum? ~ Declan M. Webber and Alison B. Flynn
Alignment of ACS Inorganic Chemistry Examination Items to the Anchoring Concepts Content Map ~ Keith A. Marek, Jeffrey R. Raker, Thomas A. Holme, and Kristen L. Murphy
Moving beyond Alpha: A Primer on Alternative Sources of Single-Administration Reliability Evidence for Quantitative Chemistry Education Research ~ Regis Komperda, Thomas C. Pentecost, and Jack Barbera
From the Archives: Paper Chromatography
This issue includes an article on the Analysis and Identification of Major Organic Acids in Wine and Fruit Juices by Paper Chromatography by Dulani Samarasekara, Courtney Hill, and Deb Mlsna. Paper chromatography has been explored extensively in the pages of the Journal. Here’s a sampling:
The Write Stuff: Using Paper Chromatography to Separate an Ink Mixture ~ Journal of Chemical Education Staff
T-shirt Chromatography: A Chromatogram You Can Wear ~ Jeanne M. Buccigross
Making Radial Chromatography Creative Chromatography: For Fun Flowers on Fabrics ~ Robert Becker, John Ihde, Kersti Cox, and Jerry L. Sarquis
Paper Chromatography and UV–Vis Spectroscopy To Characterize Anthocyanins and Investigate Antioxidant Properties in the Organic Teaching Laboratory~ Kelli R. Galloway, Stacey Lowery Bretz, and Michael Novak
“Supermarket Column Chromatography of Leaf Pigments” Revisited: Simple and Ecofriendly Separation of Plant Carotenoids, Chlorophylls, and Flavonoids from Green and Red Leaves ~ Alice M. Dias and Maria La Salete Ferreira
Normal and Reversed-Phase Thin Layer Chromatography of Green Leaf Extracts ~ Birte Johanne Sjursnes, Lise Kvittingen, and Rudolf Schmid
Normal- and Reverse-Phase Paper Chromatography of Leaf Extracts of Dandelions ~ Maria H. Du Toit, Per-Odd Eggen, Lise Kvittingen, Vassilia Partali, and Rudolf Schmid
A New Glow on the Chromatography of M&M Candies ~ Kurt R. Birdwhistell and Thomas G. Spence
Engaging Students in Real-World Chemistry through Synthesis and Confirmation of Azo Dyes via Thin Layer Chromatography To Determine the Dyes Present in Everyday Foods and Beverages ~ Kristi Tami, Anastasia Popova, and Gloria Proni
Using a Sequence of Experiments with Turmeric Pigments from Food To Teach Extraction, Distillation, and Thin-Layer Chromatography to Introductory Organic Chemistry Students ~ Thayssa da S. F. Fagundes, Karen Danielle B. Dutra, Carlos Magno R. Ribeiro, Rosângela de A. Epifanio, Alessandra L. Valverde
Facilitating Experiences Using the Journal of Chemical Education
With 95 volumes of the Journal of Chemical Education, you will always find something to help your chemistry experiences, including the articles mentioned above, and many more, in the Journal of Chemical Education. Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable) are also available.
Do you have something to share? Write it up for the Journal! For some advice on becoming an author, it’s always very helpful to read Erica Jacobsen’s Commentary. In addition, numerous author resources are available on JCE’s ACS Web site, including recently updated: Author Guidelines and Document Templates.