Make a Molecule: A Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry Workshop Program for High School Students

Abstract

Despite the importance of organic chemistry to human health and quality of life, very few outreach programs have been successful in communicating this message. This contributes to negative public perceptions of organic chemistry and obscures the enormous advances in quality of life engendered by organic synthesis. New chemical outreach programs that provide insight and hands-on experience of small molecule chemistry are vital to improving public engagement with the science. Make a Molecule is an organic chemistry workshop program that provides high school students with the opportunity to synthesize and biologically assess short peptides in a safe and easy manner, allowing them to experience the thrill of making and testing new bioactive molecules in a classroom environment. This manuscript details the development of the Make a Molecule project from its origins in our “synthetic fermentation” chemistry to its initial application in high schools. Scientific protocols were optimized to suit a classroom setting with the help of high school students. An accompanying website was constructed to serve as an experimental guide, aid with the workshop execution, and provide an educational resource for students and teachers. With everything in hand, the first Make a Molecule workshops were conducted in a local high school in Zurich, Switzerland, during which students were able to successfully synthesize and test novel bioactive molecules.