Sara Johnson, Douglas Masterson, Maureen Smith (University of Southern Mississippi, USA)
We present details of a two-part demonstration designed to introduce Organic Chemistry 1 students to regioselective reactions and analysis of organic products by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This demonstration required approximately thirty minutes of classroom time and was executed over two non-consecutive lectures. In part one of this demonstration, we prepared an alcohol from an alkene using the oxymercuration-demurcuration sequence. The addition occurred in a Markovnikov manner and provided a dramatic color change that was easily observable in a large classroom setting. In part two of this demonstration, we obtained the 1H-NMR spectrum for the crude product through remote access NMR analysis. We have successfully completed this demonstration in two Organic Chemistry 1 classrooms with positive student response.
