The second semester organic chemistry laboratory is focused on students conducting reactions to prepare products, using the techniques introduced during the first semester.  With the large number of known organic reactions it is very difficult, in a traditional fifteen week semester setting, to do adequate justice to every reaction.  We have developed an innovative approach in which laboratory sessions are arranged by reaction type and multiple reactions that fit that theme are conducted during that session.  The following laboratory session has an open-forum discussion on how each student/group conducted a �different� reaction, but in reality they all did essentially the �same� reaction.  The discussion focuses on the basic commonalities between the reactions in an effort to demonstrate to students that one does not need to physically conduct each reaction in order to understand the workings of reactions that belong to the same theme.

One theme, many reactions: An innovative approach to teaching second-semester organic chemistry laboratory

244th National Meeting (2012)

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