CHEM 3125 SYLLABUS
Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey Potratz
Office:
JBWN 115
Email:
jeffreyp@stedwards.edu
Website:
https://sites.stedwards.edu/jeffreyp/
Phone:
512-637-5614
Office hours:
Office
MON
TUES
Hours
10-11 AM
1-2 PM
(other times by appointment)
WED
12-1 PM
THUR
8-9 AM
Prerequisites: CHEM 2123 and CHEM 3325 (or may be taken concurrently)
Schedule:
CHEM 3125 Section 02: JBWN 109, Tuesday, 5:30-8:30 PM
CHEM 3125 Section 03: JBWN 109, Wednesday, 2-5:00 PM
Requirements: A bound composition book to serve as a lab notebook.
Textbook: Techniques in Organic Chemistry 3rd edition, Mohrig, Hammond, Schatz.
Communication: I will post all experiments on my webpage prior to class. You are responsible
for looking at the protocol before lab and doing any pre-lab questions that may be present.
Additionally, I will email the class occasionally, so be sure to check your University email
account daily. Particularly the day before and after class!
Drop Deadlines:
Thursday April 4th – last day to withdraw (with a grade of W)
A grade of incomplete is used only in rare circumstances such as: (1) a student has attended regularly, (2)
has completed in good standing all required work in the class to date, and (3) is unable to complete the
course because of a documented emergency beyond the student’s control.
Overall Grades:
A – 100-90.0 B – 89.9-80 C – 79.9-70 D – 69.9-60 F – 59.9-0
Lab Notebook – 10%
Quizzes – 10%
Lab Cleaning Duties/ Safety, Prelabs & Homework– 15 %
Lab Reports – 65%
Lab Cleaning Duties/Safety:
At the beginning of the semester you will be required to sign up for cleaning duties for specified
lab periods. The intent is not for you to do all of the cleaning, but that you and the others signed
up for that day will be responsible for the cleanliness of the lab. In particular, the benches and
sinks should be clean and clear of any glassware, common areas should be tidy and swept clean
and balances must be as clean as possible.
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How you manage to achieve a clean lab is up to you. I suggest politely asking your labmates to
clean up after themselves, when necessary, so you won’t have to.
A clean lab is a much easier place to practice proper safety techniques than a messy lab.
Additionally, you will be assigned a grade every lab period for your safety techniques (wearing
safety glass at all times, pointing separation funnels at the back wall of the fume hood, etc).
Lab Notebook: - I will check notebooks near the beginning of each lab period. Notebooks will
be graded on a check plus (100%), check (80%), check minus (60%), zero (0%)
basis.
At the beginning of lab, your notebook should include the following:
1. Experiment title
2. Equation for the reactions performed.
3. A table of reagents showing the amount (grams or mL), molar mass and number of moles
used
4. Calculation of theoretical yield (if a reaction is performed in the experiment)
5. Experimental procedure: I do not want a regurgitation of the procedure provided. Read it for
understanding prior to lab and provide an abbreviated procedure in your notebook (bullet
format is fine). Make notes about key items!! You should be able to run the experiment with
only the procedure in your notebook. This is also the place to include key observations about
your experiment!
Prelab & Homework Assignments: Most of the experiments have pre-lab questions given
after the experimental procedure. These assignments are due at the beginning of the lab period
for the day that experiment will be started. Since these assignments are intended to help you
prepare for the day’s experiment, late assignments will not be accepted.
The questions are designed to make you think more deeply about the experiment and perhaps
reread the experimental or background information. Turn in prelab questions on a separate
sheet of paper.
*It is the student’s responsibility to know when a new experiment will begin and when prelab
exercises are due.*
The homework will be challenging and it is intended to be completed by individuals. If you do
the homework in a group, be very cautious about putting an answer everybody else puts down. I
grade more by seeing how you are thinking than getting the right answer. Generally, homework
will be due at beginning of the lab following its assignment. Due date will be clearly noted.
Late homework will be accessed a minimum 10 point penalty and will not be accepted 7 days
after due day.
Lab Reports: The handout on lab report format is in a separate document. Look on my website
for more details.
Academic Integrity:
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The normal penalty for breach of academic honesty is a final grade of F for all involved. Such
breaches are broadly defined as representing the work of others as your own. Prelab assignments
and lab reports are individual work. For experiments where partners collect data together, the
data must be analyzed individually.
Additionally, academic integrity is expected for reported results (e.g. melting points, yields).
Disabilities: If you have a certified disability and/or handicap that requires special arrangements
for class activities, you must contact me to request such arrangements. An acceptable
certification of disability or handicap must be on file in the Academic Support Services office
before your request can be considered.
Attendance:
Attendance of classes is absolutely critical for this lab. This can’t be stressed enough, because
there isn’t any slack built into the schedule and the other lab sections are very full. Do not expect
makeup opportunities for unexcused absences.
If you must miss a lab due to serious illness or an emergency, let me know as soon as possible,
so that arrangements can be made.
If you miss 2 or more labs before Nov. 2th, I may drop you with a grade of “WA”. This grade
will not be assigned automatically, so if you wish to drop the course, go through the regular drop
procedure.
Late policy:
A tentative schedule of experiments and lab report due dates is provided at the end of this
syllabus.
As mentioned previously, prelab assignments are due at the beginning of the period that
experiment will be started and will not be accepted late as it defeats the purpose.
While the deadlines are given by week in the schedule, lab reports are due the day of your
meeting. Up to 10% per day may be deducted for late lab reports. I will try to remind you of due
dates the week before, but it is the student’s responsibility to know when each report is due. If
you have any doubt, ask.
Learning Objectives:
The goal for this laboratory is for students to become competent in the following areas:
1. Laboratory skills used in the organic lab including determination of melting points, liquidliquid extraction, recrystallization and distillation
2. Interpretation of infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra
3. Interpretation of experimental results
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Tentative Course Schedule Report Due dates are tentative and will be updated as we go
through the semester.
Date
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Experiment Scheduled
Syllabus/Locker Check-in
Exp 1: Grignard Reaction
Exp 1: Grignard Reaction
Exp 1: Grignard Reaction
Exp 2: Comparison Substitution/Elimination
Reaction
Exp 3: Synthesis of lidocaine
Exp 3: Synthesis of lidocaine
Exp 3: Synthesis of lidocaine
SPRING BREAK
Exp 4: Synthesis of a Benzoin products
Exp 4: Synthesis of a Benzoin products
Exp 4: Synthesis of a Benzoin products
Exp 4: Synthesis of a Benzoin products
Exp 5: Polyacrylate synthesis
Exp 6: Discovery lab to analyze food around us.
Checkout/Evaluations
Report
Due
Exp 1
Exp 2
Exp 3
Exp 4
Exp 5
Exp 6
Laboratory Safety Rules:
1. Know what you’re doing. If you’re not sure, ask the professor or TA.
2. Know what you’re working with. Some laboratory chemicals are relatively harmless; others
are not. Different types of chemicals require different handling and disposal. You should
know the potential hazards of each chemical used in lab, what precautions are needed to
work with each, and where they should be disposed.
3. Dress appropriately.
a. SAFETY GLASSES MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES!!
b. Wear closed-toed shoes—no sandals or flip-flops.
c. Clothes should cover your legs, shoulders, and torso.
d. Wear old clothes—some chemicals used could create stains and holes in clothing.
4. Keep track of your stuff. LABEL EVERYTHING!
5. Never return unused chemicals to reagent bottles.
6. Broken glass goes into a special container NOT the trash.
7. No eating, drinking or using tobacco products in the lab.
8. Clean up after yourself. Clean up spills around balances and in hoods. Request help from the
TA or instructor for large spills.
9. Wash your hands before leaving lab.
10. No unauthorized experiments! If it seems like a bad idea, don’t do it.
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