updated last Thursday, January 25, 2007

Announcements

1. The IR assignment for this quarter was posted on Wednesday. The assignment is due on Friday February 2, 2007 at 5 pm in YH3077E. No late assignments will be accepted.

2. The next workshop (1/29/2007, 5 pm) will cover IR spectroscopy. The students will work in small groups on the practice assignment posted on the website. This exercise is meant to improve the problem solving skills.

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Week 4 Problem Set - 30 BL (Turn in your computer assignment during week 5)


Part I: Phase Transfer Oxidation (due in prelab)

1. A student acquires a GC spectrum for his final product.

Solvent: dichloromethane, Column: polyethylene glycol, 30 m, 0.25 mm, Temperature:  T=120 oC (isothermal)

Results:

Time (min) Height (pA) halfwidth (min) Compound
1.3 20000 0.20
2.5 100 0.15 A
3.5 900 0.25 B
5.0 500 0.10 C

a. Determine the composition of his final product that all three compounds have the same response factor.

b. What can be said about the polarity of the compounds?

c. How would the spectrum change if the temperature would be lowered to T=80 oC for the run?

d. How would the spectrum change if the reaction mixture would be dissolved in methanol?

e. What does "pA" stand for in the table above?

2. A separatory funnel is used this week during the work-up. Answer the following questions.

a. Which tests should be performed prior to using the separatory funnel?

b. If sodium bicarbonate is used for extraction, the separatory has to be vented frequently. Explain briefly and show pertinent equations.

c. Why should a funnel be used to transfer the solution into the separatory funnel?

3. Referring to the reaction carried out in the lab, answer the following questions.

a. (NBu4)(HSO4) is used in the reaction. What does this compound exactly do?

b. What is the function of NaOCl in the reaction?

c. Why is it important that the reaction mixture is stirred vigorously?

d. Explain briefly how the column chromatography aids the purification of the final product.

e. A student decides to use hexane instead of ethyl acetate as a solvent for the reaction. What would he observe?

PART II. (Reduction of Camphor, In-lab assignment)

This assignment is to be completed in the UCLA Science Learning Center computing labs during the lab period (or afterwards if you don't complete it in the allotted time). The assignment is due during meeting 5 and is worth 10 points.

1. Optimize the above structural geometry of borneol, camphor and isoborneol. (see below instructions). Compare the heat of formation of borneol and isoborneol. Which one is thermodynamically more stable? How can you rationalize the differences?

2. Determine the dipol moment for borneol, camphor and isoborneol. (see below instructions). In the GC spectrum, camphor has the shortest retention time, then isoborneol and borneol last. Can you rationalize the GC results based on the calculated dipole moments of these compounds? (Note: The GC column is relatively non-polar.) Do not apply any constraints in this part!


Instructions:


See these Helpful Hints for manipulating structures!

Note:

1 au = 1 hartree = 627.5 kcal/mol
1 eV = 23.06 kcal/mol
1 hartree = 27.21 eV
1 Ångstrom = 1.889762 atomic units = 10-8 cm

PART III. (Aldol Condensation, In-lab assignment)

1. Calculate the dipole moment for dihedral angles:

0 through 180 degrees in 15 degree increments.

Plot the dipole moment of benzil vs. the dihedral angle.

Newman Projection of Benzil

Instructions: