An Undergraduate Laboratory Module Integrating Organic Chemistry and Polymer Science
An Undergraduate Laboratory Module Integrating Organic Chemistry and Polymer Science
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DOI：
10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01194
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发表时间：
2024-03-26
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Sarkar，Amrita
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Patel，Arya;Arik，Michael;Sarkar，Amrita
高分子科学在有机化学界得到了广泛的认可，因此，将其纳入本科有机化学课程势在必行。尽管高分子化学的主题在本科课程中越来越受欢迎，一个全面的实验室实验模块，描述了多肽的N-羧基酸酐（NCA ROP）的开环聚合和均聚物的合成活化剂再生的原子转移自由基聚合（ARGET ATRP）尚未提出。在此，我们报告了一个为期一学期，为期十周的本科实验室模块，重点是合成和分析表征的聚丙氨酸和聚苯乙烯的高级有机化学类。学生们获得了合成聚合物的实践经验，然后通过质子核磁共振（1H NMR）光谱，电喷雾电离质谱（ESI-MS），凝胶渗透色谱（GPC），热重分析（TGA），差示扫描量热法（DSC）和透射电子显微镜（TEM）进行表征，这些在典型的有机化学课程中没有得到很好的介绍。在新设计的实验室模块中，这些引人入胜的实践课程不仅提高了学生对有机化学和高分子科学跨学科环境的兴趣，而且培养了他们的研究兴趣和沟通技巧，促进了批判性思维。
Polymer science is receiving wider acceptance in the organic chemistry community; thus, it is imperative to include it in the undergraduate organic chemistry curriculum. Despite the ever-increasing popularity of the topic of polymer chemistry in undergraduate curricula, a comprehensive laboratory experiment module describing a polypeptide synthesis by ring-opening polymerization of N-carboxyanhydride (NCA ROP) and a homopolymer synthesis by activators-regenerated by electron-transfer for atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) has yet to be proposed. Herein, we report a semester-long, ten week undergraduate laboratory module focusing on the synthesis and analytical characterization of polyalanine and polystyrene for an advanced organic chemistry class. Students received hands-on-experiences in synthesizing polymers followed by their characterization via proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetry (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which are not well-presented in the typical organic chemistry curricula. These engaging hands-on lessons in the newly designed laboratory module not only increase students’ interests in an interdisciplinary environment of organic chemistry and polymer science but also cultivate their research interests and communication skills and promote critical thinking.