C 344 Lab Report 1: Fluorescence
On the next page are guidelines for both your informal (lab notebook) and formal (lab
report) write-ups of the Fluorescent Sensor experiment. There are some differences, of
course. Your lab notebook does not require any abstract or introduction material. The
content of the procedure, results, and discussion sections of formal and informal writeups are basically the same, but here are some pointers for differences. (This list is not
all-inclusive, but you can draw the general principles.)
 In the procedure of the lab notebook, you want balanced reactions and reagent
tables with all raw data. You want to make notes of all observations of the
reaction—be thorough. In the formal paper, the assumption is that you don’t
make simple stoichiometry errors, so you don’t need detailed tables. (They will
clutter up your paper.) You should only discuss observations that are
noteworthy in the sense that they comment directly on your main discussion
points. Your experimental section must include enough data to be repeatable,
including mass amounts, volume amounts, concentrations, etc.
 The lab notebook results should be all-inclusive, i.e. all raw data. Tables and
figures might still be the best way to arrange the material, but they are not
necessarily the same format. You should have sample calculations. You should
have all spectra. In the formal report, you might not include all data, because it
might make your graph more confusing in the point you are trying to bring out.
You generally don’t have calculations unless they are interesting/unique/main
point of paper. (In other words, NO stoichiometry or % yield calculations
needed!) You might not need to show spectral data, especially if you are
discussing one IR stretch that everyone expects to see anyhow—referring your
reader to look at an IR like that will waste their time and tell them that you have
no sense of importance of what you accomplished.
 In an informal write up, you should discuss all the topics that will occur in your
formal paper, but they do not need to have the same power of persuasion.
What that means is that your lab notebook might be in bullet point, rather than
sentence structure; it might be topically arranged in a way that doesn’t flow
well; you might use abbreviations or informal language. In a formal report, you
will need to have your discussion arranged so that the whole flow of the
argument is conveyed to the reader; the force of the argument is appropriate
(i.e. spend more sentences on the major points and less on the minor discussion
points); graphs and figures support the writing rather than just fill up space.
Formal Lab Report Format: Address the following statements and questions in the
indicated sections of your lab reports.
1. Name and Lab Section
2. Title
3. Abstract
4. Introduction: Acceptable (B/C range) papers will have primary literature references;
A-level papers will have especially relevant references to make the introduction
especially persuasive. Basic pointers:
 Introduce fluorescent sensors and discuss their relevance
 Introduce imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium ion fluorophores (namely the sensors
you have prepared) in the context of sensors and sensing mechanisms.
5. Results (Combined with discussion)
 Include descriptions of your in-class visual fluorescence analysis.
 Use the fluorescence data obtained/provided by your AI (excel format) to
prepare a series of graphs. Compound A: 1) Overlay of fluorescence
spectra as a function of pH. 2) Fluorescence at 385 nm vs. pH 3)
Fluorescence at 516 nm vs. pH. Compound B: 1) Overlay of fluorescence
spectra as a function of pH. 2) Fluorescence at 410 nm vs. pH.
5. Discussion (combined with results)
 Provide a detailed arrow pushing mechanism for each of the two
reactions performed in week 1.
 What side product might you anticipate seeing in reaction A? Posit an
explanation for why this side product is not observed.
 Although both reactions were allowed to go for ~1 week at room
temperature, the reaction to form compound A is complete in 1 hour at
room temperature with quantitative conversion and the reaction to form
compound B is complete in ~4 hours at room temperature with 80-85%
conversion (does not proceed to full conversion with increased time).
Based on this information posit an explanation for the color differences
observed between the two crude reaction mixtures.
 Using your spectral data confirm the identity of your compounds and
assess their purity. Make sure to specify relevant peaks and use
appropriate terminology.
 What accounts for the different fluorescence behavior observed between
the two compounds?
 What are the relative merits of the two different sensing mechanisms?
 Provide a detailed description of an assay using compounds A and B to
test the pH of water samples, use examples.
 Propose a new sensor based on this motif. Indicate what it swill be
specific for and propose a synthetic scheme to access it.
6. Experimental
7. References
 Use ACS format.