1. General

Get a lab notebook (you can use the one from Chem 30BL if you still have pages left. This might be a reason to pick up your old lab notebook from Chem 30BL before it is disposed, a lab coat, goggles and nitrile gloves e.g. AXE (YH1275, http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~AXE/store.html) before you come to the lab.The first lab meeting will be on September 27, 2007 at 8 am. If you do not attend your first lab meeting unexcused (being still on vacation is not an excuse because it shows poor planning!), you will lose your spot in the lab. There are plenty of students who will be there and want to enroll in the course.

Required texts are the Course Reader (Organic Chemistry 30CL Reader, Fall 2007), the techniques and spectroscopy reader ("A Short Survival Kit for O=Chem Lab", Fall 2007 if do not have an earlier version already), the Exam Collection Reader for Chem 30 BL (Fall 2007) and the textbook from J. Mohrig et al. (Techniques in Organic Chemistry). The course reader and the exam collection reader are available as bundle at Course Reader Materials in Westwood (1137 Westwood Boulevard, near Rite Aid starting September 24, 2007, open M-F 9-6 pm, S 10-4 pm (9/29 and 10/6 only), phone number: (310)443-3303). It is in your best interest to have the latest edition of the readers, since this is the source your TA and instructor uses for lectures, quizzes and exams.

It is highly advisable to read the lecture material beforethe lecture since it makes it easier to understand what is covered in the actual lecture. The lecture time allotted for this class does not permit to discuss every aspect in great detail. Aside of that, you are in a higher level class which requires you to do more work on your own as well. The assigned articles for the epoxidation project should be obtained asap (this means on day #1 and not the day before the final paper is due!), because they are very helpful for your in-lab work.

You should also review topics like chromatography (LC, TLC, GC), extraction theory, recrystallization, NMR spectroscopy, 2-dimensional NMR techniques, DEPT spectroscopy, etc before the course starts to get a good start into the practical work. You are expected to have a good grasp of these techniques and subjects from Chem 30BL. There is no excuse if you don't know how to apply the knowledge that you acquired previously in general or organic chemistry courses. If you did not take the courses at UCLA, it is your responsibility to check what was covered in previous courses and if you are really ready to take Chem 30CL at this point in time. However, the instructor will offer additional work-shops on Mondays from (5-6 pm) to review spectroscopy (IR, NMR, UV-Vis) and other topics of interest (check web site for schedule and topics). The work-shop will start as soon as a room as been assigned (Please check course web site and email for further announcements).


2. In-lab work

a. Literature work (Crossfire)

You will probably not be able to finish the work sheet, but the introduction should be enough to get started on the literature research for your formal report. The draft version for your research paper will be due October 26, 2007 at 5 pm. This draft version should include the complete introduction and some parts of the project that you have already finished by then including the full interpretation of the spectra. Procrastinating will get get you in a lot of trouble in this course.


b. Safety

- Formaldehyde solution is cancer suspect. Please be careful when handling it. Wear gloves when handling the solution. Do not spill it over you and try to avoid breathing the vapors. For more info see http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/formaldehyde/.

- Sodium hydroxide is a strong base and very corrosive. It damages the skin very fast. It is also very hygroscopic. For more info see http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/SO/sodium_hydroxide.html

c. Experiment (Formation of the benzylic alcohol, step 2)

a. It is very important that the phenol and sodium hydroxide are completely dissolved. Why?

b. Crushing up the NaOH pellets increases the rate of dissolution. Why? It is also advisable to seal off the flask at this point.

c. The phenolate solution should be cooled in an ice-bath before the formaldehyde solution is added slowly.

d. Make sure that you clamp your flask and place parafilm on the top to seal it off tightly. Place a label with your name, section and TA on the flask.

e. Since the reaction has to run for about 24 hours and there are limited number of hotplates available, the sections have to share hotplates.

f. You should start the reaction before you leave for the computer lab. If the sodium hydroxide did not dissolve by then, return after the computer lab to add the formaldehyde then.

g. Please make sure to come back the next day to remove the setups from the hot plates, so that the students in the earlier sections have enough room to work as well.