Oxygen, the breath of life, once poisoned the earth. The Great Oxygenation Event over two billion years ago that began an oxygenic atmosphere is also sometimes termed the Great Catastrophe, reflecting the struggle that resulted in our ultimate survival and reliance on a simple molecule created through the power of sunlight in photosynthesis. Reactions of oxygen that are critical to life are bookended by metallocatalysts in photosynthesis and mitochondria. The natural history and science of oxygen provide a central theme to explore topics ranging from biogeochemistry to fuel cells, all of which involve metal ions. The course ‘Oxygen’ was developed to expose students from different backgrounds to the excitement and mystery of reactions involving oxygen at metal centers, including roles in the geologic record, biochemistry, and contemporary economic topics. The class sources include current scientific literature, the play Oxygen (Djerassi and Hoffman), and the books ‘Oxygen, a Four Billion Year History’ (Canfield, 2014) and ‘Oxygen: The Molecule that made the World’ (Lane, 2002), among others. This talk will describe the ‘Oxygen’ course content as well as experiences and lessons learned from multiple deliveries to students at the University of Oregon.

Teaching inorganic chemistry through a general science course called ‘oxygen’

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.