last updated Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Problems Set #6


ATTN: answers to the below questions are due at the start of your lab period of Meeting 6; these answers should be part of your pre-lab write-up.


The draft version of paper is due on 4-29-2005 at 5 pm in YH 1217. The draft version is worth 15 points, the final paper 45 points. For more information what the draft is supposed to contain see here. Late submission will receive less credit. The more of your work you submit here, the more feedback you will get, which will beneficial for the final version. We will try to return the reports by Monday.

The third quiz will be on Thursday April 28, 2005 in lecture. Please make sure that you arrive on time.

The next lecture will take place in the SLC (YH4341 and YH4345). The lecture will cover an introduction how to use Chemdraw.


1. Referring to the epoxidation reaction carried out in the lab,

a. which advantage/disadvantage does the use of bleacjh as the oxygen source have in the reaction?

b. why is a buffer added to the reaction mixture?

c. why is hexane added during the work-up?

d. why is a two-phase system used in this reaction?

e. how is the epoxide visualized in the TLC experiment?

2. A student plans to use 1.5 g of 4-bromo-a-methylstyrene for his epoxidation. His procedure requires the use of 7 mole% of the Jacobsen catalyst and 1.3 equivalents of oxidant (bleach).

a. How many grams of the catalyst are needed?

b. What is the volume of bleach required in this experiment?