Peer Mentoring in the General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratories. The Pinacol Rearrangement: An Exercise in NMR and IR Spectroscopy for General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratories

Abstract

This article describes a discovery experiment for general chemistry and organic chemistry labs. Although the pinacol rearrangement has been employed in undergraduate organic laboratories before, in this application organic chemistry students act as mentors to students of general chemistry. Students work together using distillation—a new technique for the general chemistry students and a basic one for the organic students—to isolate an unknown compound. Then, using spectroscopy (IR and NMR), the students collaborate to determine the structure of the product of the reaction. This application of a standard experiment allows general chemistry students to gain exposure to modern spectroscopic instrumentation and to enhance their problem-solving skills. Organic chemistry students improve their understandings of laboratory techniques and spectroscopic interpretation by acting as the resident experts for the team.