Organic Chemistry Lab

Lectures 1st semester
1. Safety and accident prevention in the chemical laboratory
2. Main techniques for the isolation and purification of organic compounds (extraction, crystallisation, simple and fractional distillation, chromatography)
3. Introduction to IR spectroscopy
4. Experimental aspects of some fundamental organic reactions (oxidations, reductions, condensations, nucleophilic substitutions, Fischer synthesis), evaluation of the purity grade of the obtained products through TLC and melting point measurement
5. The experimental activities performed in the laboratory aim at applying the topics discussed in classroom.

Lectures 2nd semester
Frontal lessons
Prevention and safety in chemical laboratories, basic operating protocols, the laboratory report, calculation of the reaction yield (recalls). Experimental factors that influence the course of organic reactions (concentration of reactants and their addition, solvent, temperature, catalysts). Examples of chemical transformations (introduction of protective groups, aromatic electrophilic substitutions). Review of 1H NMR. Guided exercises.
Practical experiences
The common experiences carried out in the laboratory are aimed at exemplifying the topics covered in class by means of experimental work:
- transformations of functional groups: synthesis of an amide from an aromatic carboxylic acid
- two-step synthetic sequence: synthesis of an aromatic compound, by means of an aromatic electrophilic substitution reaction
- synthesis of an azo dye via the formation of a diazonium salt
- example of an aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction
- two-step synthetic sequence: synthesis of an aromatic heterocyclic molecule
The common purification techniques for organic compounds are employed: crystallization, acid/base separation, distillation under vacuum, chromatographic separation on a silica gel column.
The last part of the course is dedicated to two individual tests:
- determination of an unknown carbonyl compound: synthesis of crystalline derivatives
- separation of a mixture of two unknown compounds and their determination by synthesis of crystalline derivatives. The identification of products takes place by measuring melting points, TLC plates, IR spectroscopy and analysis of the 1H NMR spectra of unknown substances.