THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS
44
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS Department of Biological & Chemical Sciences CHEM3950 –BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY LABORATORY MANUAL ACADEMIC YEAR: 2021-2022
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS
ACADEMIC INTEGRITYCAVE HILL CAMPUS
CHEM3950 –BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN
CHEMISTRY
LABORATORY MANUAL
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 1
Guidelines for Students 6
– Research Notebook Management 8
On Writing Reports 10
Reference style 14
Contents 18
Form 18
Delivery 19
Academic Integrity 21
Emergency procedures in the chemistry laboratory 30
Policy for exposure to hazardous materials during pregnancy
34
General laboratory safety reminders 34
Notes on Laboratory Technique 35
Column preparation 35
Column chromatography 35
Chloroform recovery 35
Distillation 35
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 2
Recrystallization 36
Refrigerators 36
Vacuum distillation 37
Reaction Yields 39
Cleanup and Checkout Procedure for all Project Students 41
Chemistry Research Project Laboratory Safety Regulations Agreement
42
APPENDIX 43
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 3
OFFICE OF THE BOARD FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
COURSE OUTLINE FORMAT
COURSE TITLE: BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY COURSE CODE: CHEM3950
LEVEL: III SEMESTER: I & II NO. OF CREDITS: 3 PRE-REQUISITE(S):
CHEM2715, CHEM2700, CHEM2705, CHEM2710, CHEM2730
COURSE DESCRIPTION/RATIONALE
This course consists of a research project carried out under the
supervision of a member of staff. It is meant to provide the
necessary training and skill development in the different areas of
chemistry.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course the student should be able to:
1. Complete research goals as defined by the supervisor 2. Make
independent and critical assessments 3. Independently perceive,
formulate and solve problems 4. Effectively search the literature
for information pertaining to specific topics
CONTENT
TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Students who have been admitted to the course have the right to
receive tuition and/or supervision for the duration of the time
period.
ASSESSMENT
REQUIRED READING
Journal articles and reference books as determined by the
supervisor.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 4
OFFICE OF THE BOARD FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
COURSE OUTLINE FORMAT
COURSE TITLE: RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY COURSE CODE: CHEM3955
LEVEL: III SEMESTER: YEAR LONG NO. OF CREDITS: 6 PRE-REQUISITE(S):
CHEM2715, CHEM2700, CHEM2705, CHEM2710 and CHEM2730 AND
the permission of the Department. Preference will be given to
students double majoring in Chemistry.
COURSE DESCRIPTION/RATIONALE A practical project carried out under
the supervision of a member of staff. The project will run
throughout the academic year and students are expected to spend at
least 144 hours on laboratory work. Each student will be required
to give a seminar on completion of the project as well as submit
two typed and bound copies of a written report. Enrolment will be
limited to those students who have demonstrated good practical
skills and an aptitude for research.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
CHEM3505 is an eight credit course in which final year
undergraduate students pursuing a major in Chemistry engage in
research under the guidance of a member of staff in the Department
of Biological and Chemical Sciences. The goal of the course is for
students to actively participate in state-of-the-art research in
chemistry. In so doing, the student will be exposed to research
problems of current interest. They will also receive instruction
and gain experiences in:
• Using modern research tools
• Carrying out research investigations
• Increasing their understanding of the scientific method
• Reading and evaluating scientific journal articles
• Developing experimental skills and techniques
CONTENT
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 5
TEACHING METHODOLOGY Students who have been admitted to the course
have the right to receive tuition and/or supervision for the
duration of the time period.
DECIDING ON A CHEM3955 PROJECT
Students are encouraged to begin their undergraduate research as
soon as their course schedules allow. CHEM3955 projects are offered
in both semesters. In making a decision on a CHEM3955 research
project, students should look over the list of projects being
offered in the preferred semester and fill out the form attached at
the end of the lab manual. This form should then be handed in to
Ms. Shirley Jones in the Departmental Office. You will be contacted
at a later date informing you of the project that you have been
assigned to. Students are strongly encouraged to meet with the
project supervisors and postgraduate students before deciding on
projects.
ASSESSMENT
REQUIRED READING
Journal articles and reference books as determined by the
supervisor.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 6
Guidelines for Students pursuing CHEM3950/CHEM3955
During your project you will conduct an investigation under the
guidance of a project
supervisor(s). You will develop specialised practical/research
skills and you are required to
utilize the knowledge that you have acquired in your course of
study to solve problems. Your
success is heavily predicated on your motivation and attitude. To
help you to successfully
navigate this course, the guidelines as presented below have been
created.
1. Fill out the application form at the back of the CHEM3950/3955
lab manual clearly
listing your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices. Every effort will be made to
assign you to your
preferred project, however at times it may be necessary to assign
you to your 2nd and 3rd
choices and in some cases, an option not noted on your application
form.
2. Submit your completed application form to Ms. Shirley Jones in
the Departmental Office
by Friday, September 10, 2021 (semester 1) or by Friday, January
28, 2022 (semester
2).
3. When you have received your assignment to a project and a
supervisor, make an
appointment to see your supervisor(s) as soon as possible. During
the meeting with your
supervisor(s) ensure that you fully understand:
- What it is you are trying to achieve in your project
- The relevance/importance of what you are trying to achieve
In addition, establish a timetable that lists the times that you
will meet with your
supervisor, deadlines for drafts etc.
4. Subsequent to the meeting with your supervisor(s) and prior to
the commencement of any
practical work you should write a summary (no longer than one page)
detailing the aims
and objectives of the project and submit to your supervisor(s) for
approval.
5. You must attend the library session and a safety session, the
dates of which will be
communicated to you.
6. “Mini-workshops” may be held during the first hour of the
timetabled lab session. You
are required to be in attendance for all sessions scheduled, the
dates of which will be
communicated to you.
7. Try not to exceed 72 hours on your investigations. If you do, it
may have an adverse
effect on your studies.
8. All data, procedures, calculations etc. associated with the
project must be recorded in a
lab book.
10. Be courteous to the technical staff.
11. Once you have commenced practical work:
- Be neat and be considerate of other researchers in the
laboratory.
- Read and follow the assorted notes and memos on how to do
research and
how to conduct yourself in the laboratory.
- Respect and take care of equipment and glassware, most of which
are
extremely expensive. Many long hours are spent sourcing funds to
buy
equipment which you will be using. In other words, DO NOT
BREAK
STUFF!
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 7
- Work hard and become “emotionally involved” with your project.
You will
gain independence and self-confidence as you progress but should
keep in
close touch with your supervisor about your project.
12. After your practical work is finished you must:
- Clean all glassware including sample vials, test tubes etc. that
were used by
you and return them to their correct storage area.
- Clean and wipe down your workbench as well as the working
surfaces of the
communal areas (balance room, fume hood etc.) that you used.
- Return apparatus (general or specialised) that was borrowed from
the
technicians, other lecturers etc.
- Dispose of all chemicals appropriately and safely using the waste
bottles
and/or containers provided in the lab. If you are unsure of how to
safely
dispose of a chemical please consult with your supervisor,
technician - Mr.
Kenville Grimes or Senior Technician - Mr. Lionel Sobers.
13. If your project does not require laboratory work, you will be
required to take a safety test.
See your supervisor and coordinator.
14. You are required to submit TWO (2) copies of your project
report (THREE (3) in the
case of CHEM3955) to the Departmental Office by the deadline date
(will be
communicated to you). The last page of the report must contain a
summary report
generated by the TURNITIN software which can be accessed on the
myElearning
website. You must have a copy of your report present at the oral
presentations.
15. You are required to prepare an oral presentation (10 minutes
for CHEM3950 and 15
minutes for CHEM3955) based on the work done on your project.
16. Your electronic file should be uploaded to the computer BEFORE
the start of
presentations on the day of the oral presentations.
17. A corrected, bound copy of your report should be submitted to
the Departmental Office
no later than one month after the date of the oral
presentations.
18. The Assessment of Oral Presentation forms along with the rubric
used by the examiners
are located in the Appendix.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 8
RESEARCH NOTEBOOK MANAGEMENT
The notebook is the fundamental record of experimental research. It
is to be used for recording
all laboratory operations and observations. It should provide in
ink and account of what was
done, how it was done, and what happened. This includes the
apparatus used, the sequence of
steps, all measurements, significant time intervals, changes in
appearance, and all other relevant
data. It is essential that the salient operations, observations and
measurements be recorded
insofar as possible as they are done or made. An ex post facto
scrapbook of recollections and
miscellaneous jottings is exactly what a research laboratory
notebook is not to be. It is also not to
be used as a record for literature searched (a separate notebook or
card index better serves this
purpose) and must not be a verbatim transcription of a literature
procedure.
This set of guidelines is designed:
a. To increase the efficiency of the researcher to do
research.
b. To enable succeeding researchers to exactly reproduce
experimental results reported by
the original researcher.
c. To allow the research adviser quick and painless access to
samples, spectra and other data
for publication or other purposes.
An index should precede the main body of the notebook. Therefore
leave at least 2 pages
(depending on the size of your writing) for it. The index should
list a given synthetic
transformation in structural format, i.e. graphics only! It is wise
to write the index parallel to
writing the experimental; it is tedious and boring to have to write
the index after the book is
complete and it is only too easy to find excuses not to do it.
Yields should also be indicated here.
Record the date for each reaction at the top of your notebook page
(Month, day, year). All
entries are to be made in the dark ink; never use pencil. In
industry, each page must be signed by
the researcher and by a witness! Although we don’t think we need to
be this precise, you
absolutely must record the date, including the year, the reaction
(showing structures) and what
you did.
You must include the amounts (weight, volume, moles) of substrates,
reagents, and solvents, the
reaction times, temperatures, and other conditions, the workup
procedure, and purification
procedure(s). Normally, since it changes, the recrystallization
solvent volume is not recorded,
and the weights of drying agents are normally not cited. Try to
remember to record the volumes
of extraction and washing solvents that you employ during reaction
workups, and the volume
and/or weight of the workup medium (e.g. saturated ammonium
chloride, ice, etc.). Of course,
these can be approximate. The quantity of drying agent need not be
specified. The concentrations
of aqueous washing solutions should also be noted (e.g. 6N NaOH,
saturated aqueous sodium
carbonate, 2% HCl, etc.).
Think carefully about significant figures when you are planning a
reaction. Thus, it is absurd to
weigh out a reagent to three or four significant figures when it is
to be used in large excess in a
reaction. For example, it is illogical to weigh out 5.37 g (0.141
mol) of sodium borohydride for
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 9
use in reducing 2.83 g (0.0141 mol) of a ketone. Thus, if a
ten-fold excess is required, then
weigh out 5.4 g or even 5 g. Also watch your use of significant
figures in calculating and
reporting yields. Thus, it is incorrect to report the weight of a
product to four figures if you only
weighed your starting material (assuming this to be the limiting
reagent) to two or three figures.
Thus, 1.42 grams of starting compound can give 1.23 grams of
product but not 1.234 grams of
product even if you weighed the product more carefully than you did
the starting material! The 4
milligrams is meaningless here because your 1.42 gram starting
weight implies a reproducibility
of 0.01 grams and not 0.001 grams. (Note that 0.0005 has one
significant figure while 2.00400
has six). Remember that % yields are normally reported to only two
significant figures.
Other important data for your notebook: source of all starting
materials and reagents, reference to
previous reactions (yours or literature), reaction temperatures and
times, other reaction
conditions (inert atmosphere? Mechanical stirring?), observations
(colour changes?
Exothermic?), cautionary notes, selected spectral data,
chromatographic and other purification
information.
Other important data for your experimental writeups (research
report): TLC and other
chromatography data (solvents, adsorbents), spectral data (IR, NMR,
UV, MS), physical data
(melting or boiling points), elemental analytical data for new
compounds (staple the results in
your notebook), X-ray data. You must indicate in the notebook what
spectral information you did
record for a particular experiment or compound, and, of course,
reference it to that relevant
notebook page number.
References should go in the notebook as should all important (or
all) spectral data.
Summary
1. Record grams and moles of everything you use.
2. Record the number and volume of each extraction that you use in
a workup.
3. Weigh the product(s) from a reaction and calculate the percent
yield. You should weigh both
crude product and purified product.
4. Record all temperatures and pressures for distillations,
sublimations, dryings.
5. Record concentrations of reagents and the source of all
chemicals used (except common
stuff).
6. Recording 1H-NMR (and 13C-NMR if available) and IR spectral data
(e.g. ten strongest
peaks) in your notebook saves time later when you write your
report. This applies to all other
chromatographic information if you obtained these.
7. Record TLC data (solvent system, plate type, Rf, developing
system). The same applies to
column chromatography.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 10
8. For a recrystallisation, of course you would record the
solvent(s), but also make note of the
crystal type (plates, needles, cubes, etc.), size (long, short,
fluffy, etc.), and colour. Record
the weight of each crop and the melting point.
9. If you have an “authentic” sample of what you have just made,
you should do the following:
a. TLC comparison, including spot-on-spot.
b. Run IR’s of both at the same time (or nearly so) and
concentration. This is the
single best means of compound comparison.
c. Do an mp and a mixed mp (if sufficient material is
available).
d. An NMR comparison is frequently useful.
10. If you do not have an “authentic” sample of what you have made,
then you should try to
locate similar compounds in the literature and record their IR,
NMR, UV, etc. data in your
notebook to convince yourself and your supervisor that you really
made what you think you
have made.
11. All new compounds require an elemental analysis. This requires
an extensive
recrystallisation sequence. Pass on your sample to your supervisor
promptly. Non-distillable
liquids may be analyzed by HR-MS.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 11
ON WRITING REPORTS
Good writing requires time, effort and care. In writing theses and
reports the objectives should be
clarity and conciseness. Always choose the simple expression rather
than the unusual. A reader is
more favourably impressed by an easily understood report, than by
an exhibition of fancy literary
style.
GENERAL FORMAT
Specific recommendations with respect to font, font sizes and other
formatting requirements are
given below. They are to be followed and variations are subject to
a penalty.
1. FONT TYPE
Acceptable font types include Arial, Helvetica and Times New
Roman.
2. FONT SIZE
Headings should be bold and in size 12 or 14 point.
Normal text in the body of the report should be size 12.
3. SPACING
4. ALIGNMENT OF TEXT
All text should be justified.
A chemical report should contain:
a. Table of Content (May include list of Table and Figures)
b. Abstract
f. Experimental
g. References
ABSTRACT
This is a succinct (one paragraph) summary of the entire report.
The abstract should briefly
describe the question posed in the report, the methods used to
answer this question the results
obtained, and the conclusions. It should be possible to determine
the major points of the report
by reading the abstract. Although it is located at the beginning of
the paper, it is easiest to write
the abstract after the paper is completed.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 12
INTRODUCTION
This part should include a brief and clear statement of the purpose
and objectives of the work
and a concise historical background. Remember, you are writing to
inform not only your
research supervisor, but others who may not be at all familiar with
your work.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This section should contain a description of the work of the report
but can be divided into two
separate sections. Do not be a slave to chronology, but organize
the presentation for clarity.
Sentences should not be interrupted by structural formulas, which
should be conveniently located
between paragraphs and assigned Arabic numerals in the order of
appearance. These formulas
are referred to in the text by the numerals. The discussion should
be self-sufficient, and should
describe the reactions performed, any unusual experimental
conditions, yields of products, and
any particularly significant data for new products.
Avoid: (a) Verbosity, (b) unnecessary changes of tense – usually
the past tense, passive voice is
preferred, (c) the use of atomic symbols in text, (d) the use of
the verb to react in the transitive
form.
EXPERIMENTAL
This section should contain complete details of the laboratory
operations, should be written in
the past tense, passive voice, and should be consistent in style
throughout. It is usually
convenient to specify some general practices in a footnote at the
beginning of this section, e.g.,
that 95% ethanol was used as solvent for all ultraviolet
spectra.
1. Each experiment that is written up should be carefully
checked.
2. Paragraph headings should be used for each preparation.
3. No procedure is entirely new. Therefore, each preparation should
have introductory
sentences citing (with references) the precedent for the procedure
that follows.
4. All major compounds should be given full and correct chemical
names (IUPAC where
possible).
5. Write up experiments in past tense and passive voice. Right:
“The compound was distilled at
reduced pressure, bp 170-175° (0.5 Torr).” Wrong: “I distilled the
compound….”
6. Always give the source, method of purification and physical
characteristics (as determined
by you) of starting materials used in all preparations.
7. Never start a sentence with a numeral. Wrong: “0.10 g of the
ester was…” Right: “One-
tenth of a gram of the ester was…” Generally such sentences can
(and should) be rearranged
so as to avoid starting with a number, e.g. “A solution of 0.10 g…”
or “A 0.10 g sample
was…” Exception to the rule: sentences may be started with names of
compounds which
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 13
begin with numerals, e.g. “2-Methoxytetralin…” In this case, the
first letter following the
numeral is capitalized.
a. mg for milligrams
b. mL for millilitres
e. % for percent
j. mol for mole and moles
9. Weights, volumes and lengths of time are expressed in numerals
except when beginning a
sentence.
10. Tables should carry titles as well as numbers. See the J. Am.
Chem. Soc. for the correct
format.
REFERENCES
A scholarly report will be well documented with appropriate
references to support statements
and to provide precedents. For reporting references use the
Chemical Abstracts abbreviations for
journals and the style used in the ACS Style Guide. Examples are
provided below.
Reference Style Guidelines
(http://pubs.acs.org/books/references.shtml)
1. Citing References in Text
Indicate references in text by superscript numbers, which appear
outside the punctuation if
the citation applies to a whole sentence or clause. Number the
references sequentially as they
occur in the chapter text. Do not combine references. Each
reference number should refer to a
single source, except where a Chemical Abstracts reference is
included. An example is given
below.
Oscillation in the reaction of benzaldehyde with oxygen was
reported previously.3
2. Reference Style
Collect references in a list under the heading References at the
end of the report. The References
section should consist of a numbered list of references,
single-spaced. Begin this section on a
new page. Do not leave blank lines between references. Please see
the ACS sample references,
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 14
3. ACS Sample References
The following are examples of ACS standard forms for various types
of literature citations and
should be followed. (For more examples and a thorough discussion of
reference style, consult
The ACS Style Guide, Chapter 14.)
Journal
Author, A. B.; Author, C. D. J. Abbrev. 19XX, vol, xx-yy.
NOTE: No punctuation in journal abbreviations except periods. No
conjunctions,
articles, or prepositions in journal abbreviations. No comma or
semicolon before or after
journal titles.
e.g: Evans, D.A; Smith, T.E.; Cee, V.J. J.Am, Chem.Soc. 2000, 122,
10033-10046
Magazine with dates instead of volume numbers
Author, A. B.; Author, C. D. Magazine Abbrev. October 26, 1995, p.
20.
e.g: Manning, R. Wired, May 2004, p. 176
Article from an on-line journal
Author, A. J. Abbrev .(online) 19XX, vol, pp-pp http:// (accessed
date).
e.g: Peacock-Lopez, E. Chem. Ed. (On line) 2007, II, 383-393
http://Chemeducator.org
/bibs/0011006/110603801b.htm (accessed August 23, 2007).
Book without editors:
Author, A. B.; Author, C. D. Book Title; Series Name and number;
Publisher: City,
STATE (2 letters), year; Vol. 1, pp xx-yy.
Book with editors, no authors named:
Book Title; Editor, A. B.; Editor, C. D., Eds.; Series Name and
number; Publisher: City,
STATE (2 letters), year; Vol. 2, pp xx-yy.
Book with editors and authors named:
Author, A. B. In Book Title; Editor, C. D.; Ed.; Series Name and
number; Publisher: City,
STATE (2 letters), year; Vol. 3, pp xx-yy.
Patent
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 15
Author, A. B. Ph.D. thesis, Institution Name, City, STATE,
year.
e.g: Thoman, J.W.Jr. PhD. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge,
MA, 1987.
Websites:
An example of an electronic reference is: About the Commercial
Internet eXchange, URL
http://www.acs.org. followed by the accessed date.
Use Chemical Abstracts abbreviations for journal names. For books,
edition follows title: Book
Title, 2nd ed;
The punctuation retains the style (e.g., roman, bold, or italic) of
the character to which it is
attached. Include the state name for all U.S. cities except New
York. Include the country name
for all non-U.S. cities except London and Paris.
For unpublished results, give author names and affiliations.
Describe submitted material as
unpublished. Unless an article has been published, it is either
unpublished or accepted, in which
case it is in press. Include the journal name and year.
When citing M.S. or Ph.D. theses, include the name of the school,
city, and state (or city and country). Certain journals that have
duplicate titles should be cited along with the city of
publication. For example:
Science (Washington, D.C.) Nature (London) Nature (London) New
Biol. Nature (London) Phys. Sci.
Certain journals do not have volume numbers:
Chem. Ind. (London) Chem Lett. J. Chem. Soc. J. Chem. Soc. Chem.
Commun. J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. 1 or 2 J. Chem. Soc. Perkin
Trans. 1 or 2 Proc. Chem. Soc. London Tetrahedron Lett.
For a more detail listing you can see the following website:
Page 16
1. PREPARATION OF FIGURES AND SCHEMES
Representations of chemical structures form a major part of many
chemistry reports and
presentations. Chemical drawing programs such as ChemDraw,
Isis/Draw and ChemSketch have
revolutionized the field of chemistry reporting.
The following guidelines must be considered when preparing figures
and schemes:
• Figures and schemes are consecutively numbered with Arabic
numerals in the order they
are first cited in the report (i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2,
etc.).
• The legends of figures and schemes should be positioned directly
below the
corresponding graphic in the report.
• Figures and schemes should be cropped as closely as possible to
minimize white space
surrounding the graphic.
• Individual compounds must be numbered with boldface Arabic
numerals in the order in
which the compounds are first mentioned in the text. Boldface lower
case letters may be
added to distinguish compounds that differ only in the identity of
substituents.
• All figures and schemes must be embedded in the report after the
paragraph where they
are first mentioned.
• All figures and schemes should be approximately the same size
where possible.
• Do not scan diagrams from books or other paper sources. Such
scanned images are
usually of low quality, and are in violation of the original
copyright
Structure Drawing Guidelines
Chemical Structures should be prepared according to the guidelines
given below. The parameters
are benchmarks which should be used to prepare chemical structures
with chemical structure
editors such as ChemDraw, etc.
Drawing in ChemDraw
• Chain angle: 120 degrees
• Fixed length: 0.25 in
• Bold width: 0.0278 in
• Line width: 0.0139 in
• Margin width: 0.0139 in
• Hash spacing: 0.0347 in
• Atom labels: Arial 12 pt Regular Formula
• Bond angles and length: "fixed" is recommended
The recommended settings for slide presentations are as
follows:
• Chain angle: 120 degrees
• Fixed length: 0.35 in
• Bold width: 0.0625 in
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 17
• Atom labels: Arial 16 pt Bold Formula
• Bond angles and length: "fixed" is recommended
Drawing in IsisDraw
IsisDraw is available free to educators and students (with
registration) from MDLI.
Obtaining ISIS/Draw.
Go to the MDLI website at http://www.mdli.com/. [UK mirror
http://www.mdli.co.uk.] Look for
the "Download no-fee software" link near the bottom of the page,
under "Quicklinks". Choose
the appropriate version, and download it. Optional. While at the
download site, you may also
want to download two additional items:
1. The AutoNom Standard add-in. This add-in allows you to name
structures you draw, and is
discussed below under F. Additional useful features in ISIS/Draw.
(If the AutoNom installer
detects an old version, it will ask you if you want to proceed. You
probably want to continue,
and install the new version in the correct folder.)
2. The help file. The basic installation does not include a help
file. For basic use the instructions
given here should be sufficient.
Installation.
To install the program, run the exe file that you have downloaded.
If you downloaded either of
the optional items discussed above, install them by running their
exe files.
For further assistance, refer to:
http://www.geocities.com/athens/thebes/5118/obc/isis.htm#Introduction
2. PREPARATION OF TABLES
• All tables must be inserted in the report text after the
paragraph where they are first
mentioned. The following guidelines must be considered when
preparing tables:
• Tables are consecutively numbered with Arabic numerals in the
order they are first cited
in the manuscript text (i.e. Table 1, Table 2, etc.).
• Tables must be cell-based and thus should be created using the
“Table object” in the
word processing program such as MS Word or WP. Cells should be
aligned either centre
left or middle centre.
• Line returns and tabs should not be used within the cells.
• Above each table a sequential bold typed Arabic table number must
be provided followed
by a short and concise title after a colon.
• All table columns must have a short and self-explanatory
heading.
• Footnotes should be typed below the table using low case letter
designations. They
should be referenced in the table with lower case superscript
letters. The sequence of
letters should proceed by row rather than by column. An explanation
of all non-standard
abbreviations used in a table as well as additional descriptive
information to the table
content must be given in a footnote.
Page 18
CONTENTS
What is the exact definition of the topic? What is expected?
Analyse, clarify and define the topic
for yourself, then talk to your supervisor about aspects that
remain unclear.
Ask your supervisor for starting points in your search for
material. What is central and what is
marginal to the treatment of the topic? You cannot present
everything, but make sure you present
the core of the matter, the basics, the essentials. A short report
can only present the gist of the
matter. Nevertheless, a compact five-minute presentation may
provide more essential insights
than a thick book.
Which information, models and terms are new and need to be
explained? Which new terms did
you encounter preparing the report? Recall your own state of
relative ignorance at the beginning
of your research. Use this state as a starting point for your oral
report. Should you happen to
know a lot about your topic, try to imagine the basics which
everyone needs to know.
The content should be presented in a compact, dense manner, yet
clarity and comprehension still
take precedence.
Explain the larger significance of your topic.
Reproduce names, dates and facts accurately. Put difficult terms
and names on your handout or
on a slide or print them on the whiteboard in large letters.
Present the facts and the basic information but you may also
include your opinion.
FORM
A good presentation needs a beginning that rouses interest while
clearly introducing the topic
clearly, a body that allows listeners to discern and follow a
chosen pattern and an ending that is a
climax to your efforts (in the form of a summary, a poignant final
statement).
You might want to announce the individual steps of your
presentation in the beginning so that
the listeners may follow along more easily. Otherwise you can
include them in a handout.
Keep your report lively by choosing illuminating examples, quotes
and comparisons.
Do not get carried away with theoretical ruminations – your
listeners need to be able to
understand and follow you. Don’t try to impress them with your
knowledge, rather share your
impressive knowledge.
DELIVERY
The speaker’s attitude should be professional. It is important to
be open to the questions,
suggestions or comments from the audience. If a question is beyond
the speaker’s ability to
answer fully, the best answer possible should be given. There is
nothing wrong in admitting the
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 19
limits of one’s knowledge, saying, for example, “We have not yet
considered that…” or “That’s
a good point, we should go back and examine it in greater detail…”
Criticism, when justified,
should be accepted gracefully and learned from. Incorrect criticism
should be politely explained
away by clearly stating how the particular objection is
inapplicable or can be remedied.
Be aware that you are preparing your report for a listening, not a
reading audience.
Keep in mind that you need eye contact with your audience in order
to keep them with you and
your argument.
You may speak freely from notes/cue cards or you may read freely
from a manuscript as
newscasters do. Both forms need practice for an effective delivery.
Choose the mode which is
most comfortable for you.
Watch the pace, rhythm and the pauses of your report. Take your
time – the audience will be
grateful for a well-tempered delivery. Vary the pace throughout
your presentation, going slowly
through compact parts and speeding up through easier
sections.
Make sure that the beginning and the ending of the delivery are
effectively marked. This is an
important aspect for the success of your report.
Under no circumstances should the report exceed the given time
frame. You need to finish within the allocated time. After the time
has expired, you will be interrupted so that other presenters will
have sufficient time for their reports. Conceive of the time limit
as a task and as an opportunity. Think of yourself as a
professional journalist working for a newspaper (limited print
space) or a radio or a television station (limited broadcasting
time).
Practice at home. Keep track of time. Adjust your manuscript to
stay within the limit.
Accept that in all likelihood you may be nervous. Consider the
presentation as an opportunity for
yourself, not an examination. Even the most experienced talk show
hosts and TV stars are
nervous each time they address an audience. Concentrate on the
topic, not on your performance.
Think of the many situations in which you have succeeded. Don’t
take it too seriously and don’t
think you need to be perfect. Even if you mispronounce words, lose
track of your thoughts or
fumble facts; this is all part of the (ad)venture. If possible,
relax and enjoy your presentation
once you get started.
Take the advice from experienced speakers: Make your report a KISS
(Keep It Short Sweetie).
Fourteen minutes may be just perfect for a fifteen minute report
but do not end your report after
eleven or twelve minutes.
REMEMBER
• The oral report allows the presentation of a diversity of
speakers and opinions.
• It allows students to take charge and switch roles from being
learners to being teachers.
• It allows you to actively shape and model your seminar.
• It provides background information.
• It allows you to practice your presentational skills within a
manageable frame.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 20
Assessment forms and accompanying rubric are collected in the
Appendix.
CHEM3950 students will be assessed on the following aspects of the
written report, practical
skills and seminar:
Written Report / 55
a. Abstract / 4
b. Introduction / 10
d. Experimental / 7
e. References / 4
Practical Skills / 30
Seminar / 15
c. Ability to answer questions / 5
CHEM3955 students will be assessed on the following aspects of the
written report, work and
seminar:
d. Results / 10
e. Discussion / 20
f. References / 5
Work / 15
b. Technical Skills / 5
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 21
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
INTRODUCTION
Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn’t blow in the wind or
change with the weather. It is
your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a
man who won’t cheat, then you
know he never will.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Developing the integrity of individuals is of similar if not
greater importance than the
development of knowledge. All students are expected at all times to
go about their work with
utmost integrity especially when research is being conducted.
Unfortunately the subject of
integrity is not always understood and as a result students tend to
run into difficulties at the end
of the day.
It is therefore of utmost importance that all students registered
for CHEM3950 and CHEM3955
read and understand the following sections that deal specifically
with the expectations of this
course. NOTE: Students are required to fill out, sign and return
the form (to your
supervisor) at the end of this section that says that you have
read, understood and agreed
to abide by the guidelines presented in this section.
Most of the ideas presented in the following sections have been
adapted from Academic Integrity
at Princeton, Office of the Dean of the College, Princeton
University, Princeton, New Jersey,
2003.
ORIGINAL WORK
We, the academic staff of the Department of Biological and Chemical
Sciences, sincerely hope
that during you tenure at the University of the West Indies that
you are exposed to the ideas,
scientific theories, and creative works of countless scholars,
scientists, and artists. It is expected
that your thoughts and ideas will be shaped by the words and ideas
that you encounter. The
intellectual challenge you face in your academic work is to go
beyond what you learn in your
textbooks, in lectures, and in library – to evaluate, rethink,
synthesize and make your own the
information, data and concepts you find in your sources. The
greatest satisfaction of academic
work comes from making something original, genuine, and new out of
the material you have
learned in your courses and discovered in your research. Doing
original work is the most
demanding, but also the most rewarding part of your
education.
Your original work – whether it is a lab report, project report or
research paper – is also the basis
for your supervisor’s evaluation of your performance in a course.
For that reason, intellectual
honesty is the cornerstone of our academic community. You must
always distinguish your own
words and ideas from the words and ideas of others – including the
authors of primary,
secondary, or electronic sources and faculty members, classmates,
or friends. Making those
distinctions is not always easy and can be made even more difficult
by less-than-careful research
habits or the time pressure of submission deadlines.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 22
Take the time now to learn to recognize when it is necessary to
cite your sources and how to
provide adequate and accurate bibliographic information for your
reader. In the following
sections you will find definitions, discussions and examples of
terms such as Plagiarism,
Collaboration and Common Knowledge.
SOURCES
There are a variety of reasons for acknowledging the intellectual
sources upon which you have
built your own work. They are:
• To acknowledge your dependence on another person’s ideas or
words, and to
distinguish clearly your own work from that of your sources.
• To receive credit for the research you have done on a project,
whether or not you
directly quote or borrow from your sources.
• To establish the credibility and authority of your knowledge and
ideas.
• To place your own ideas in context, locating your work in the
larger intellectual
conversation about your topic.
• To permit your reader to pursue your topic further by reading
more about it.
• To permit your reader to check on your use of source
material.
In all of these reasons, the essential element is intellectual
honesty. You must provide your
reader with an honest representation of your work so that he or she
may evaluate its merits fairly.
Proper citation demonstrates the depth and breadth of your reading
– in effect, documenting the
hard work you have put into your research. Proper citation permits
a reader to determine the
extent of your knowledge of the topic. And, most important, proper
citation permits a reader to
more readily understand and appreciate your original contribution
to the subject. In contrast, a
very well-informed, complex or sophisticated piece of work, without
adequate or accurate
acknowledgement of sources, will only provoke your reader’s concern
or suspicion.
Such intellectual honesty is important, not only for your reader,
but also for you as the author.
For example, you may cite a paper diligently only to discover that
you can hardly find an original
idea or sentence of your own. Then you will know you have more work
to do in order to develop
a substantial original idea or thesis.
These sections will emphasize the positive reasons for properly
citing your sources rather than
the negative consequences for failing to do so. However, you need
to know that those
consequences can be severe. Failure to acknowledge the sources –
textual, personal, and
electronic – upon which you have relied is a serious breach of
academic integrity. Such a failure
can lead to the accusation of plagiarism – defined as the use of
any source, published or
unpublished, without proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism is a very
serious charge at The
University of the West Indies the penalty for which is stated
below.
The UWI Examination Regulations deal with this subject in section
(B) Cheating under
Regulation 73 as follows:
(i) Cheating shall constitute a major offence under these
regulations.
(ii) Cheating is any attempt to benefit one’s self or another by
deceit or fraud.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 23
(iii) Plagiarism is a form of cheating.
(iv) Plagiarism is the unauthorised and/or unacknowledged use of
another person’s
intellectual efforts and creations howsoever recorded, including
whether formally
published or in manuscript or in typescript or other printed or
electronically
presented form and includes taking passages, ideas or structures
from another
work or author without proper and unequivocal attribution of such
source(s),
conventions for attributions or citing used in this
University".
In these regulations, examination refers to any written material to
be assessed as part of the final
mark for a course. This includes practical reports, essays and
project reports.
The penalties for plagiarism are stated in Regulation 79 as
follows:
".... the Committee shall disqualify the candidate from the
examination in the course
concerned, and may also disqualify him/her from all examinations
taken in that
examination session; and may also disqualify him/her from all
further examinations of the
University, for any period of time, and may impose a fine
....".
The most important thing to know is this: whether you fail to cite
your sources deliberately or
inadvertently, you will still be found responsible for the act of
plagiarism. Ignorance of
academic regulations or the excuse of sloppy or rushed work does
not constitute an acceptable
defence against the charge of plagiarism.
EXAMPLES OF PLAGIARISM
This set of examples provides a range of textual plagiarism from
verbatim copying to through
paraphrasing. The comments that follow the examples offer guidance
about how a source may be
used and when a source must be cited.
Original source (text)
Yale University Press, 1979. pp.102-103
From time to time this submerged or latent theatre in Hamlet
becomes almost overt. It is close to
the surface in Hamlet’s pretense of madness, the “antic
disposition” he puts on to protect himself
and prevent his antagonists from plucking out the heart of his
mystery. It is even closer to the
surface when hamlet enters his mother’s room and holds up, side by
side, the pictures of the two
kings, Old Hamlet and Claudius, and proceeds to describe for her
the true nature of the choice
she has made, presenting truth by means of a show. Similarly, when
he leaps into the open grave
at Ophelia’s funeral, ranting in high heroic terms, he is acting
out for Laertes, and perhaps for
himself as well, the folly of excessive, melodramatic expressions
of grief.
Text Example 1
Verbatim plagiarism, or unacknowledged direct quotation (lifted
passages are in bold)
Almost all of Shakespeare’s Hamlet can be understood as a play
about acting and the theatre. For
example, there is Hamlet’s pretense of madness, the “antic
disposition” that he puts on to
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 24
protect himself and prevent his antagonists from plucking out the
heart of his mystery.
When hamlet enters his mother’s room he holds up, side by side, the
pictures of the two
kings, Old Hamlet and Claudius, and proceeds to describe for her
the true nature of the
choice she has made, presenting truth by means of a show.
Similarly, when he leaps into the
open grave at Ophelia’s funeral, ranting in high heroic terms, he
is acting out for Laertes,
and perhaps for himself as well, the folly of excessive,
melodramatic expressions of grief.
Comment – Aside from an opening sentence loosely adapted from the
original and reworded
more simply, this entire passage is taken almost word-for-word from
the source. The few small
alterations of the source do not relieve the writer of the
responsibility to attribute these words to
their original author. A passage from a source may be worth quoting
at length if it makes a point
precisely or elegantly. In such cases, copy the passage exactly,
place it in quotation marks, and
cite the author.
Text Example 2
bold)
Almost all of Shakespeare’s Hamlet can be understood as a play
about acting and the theatre. For
example, in Act 1, hamlet adopts a pretence of madness that he uses
to protect himself and
prevent his antagonists from discovering his mission to revenge his
father’s murder. He also
presents truth by means of a show when he compares the portraits of
Gertrude’s two husbands
in order to describe for her the true nature of the choice she has
made. And when he leaps in
Ophelia’s open grave ranting in high heroic terms, Hamlet is acting
out the folly of excessive,
melodramatic expressions of grief.
Comment – This passage, in content and structure, is taken
wholesale from the source. Although
the writer has rewritten much of the paragraph, and fewer phrases
are lifted verbatim from the
source, this is a clear example of plagiarism. Inserting even short
phrases from the source into a
new sentence still requires placing quotations around the borrowed
words and citing the author.
If even one phrase is good enough to borrow, it must be properly
set off by quotation marks. In
the case above, if the writer had rewritten the entire paragraph
and only used Alvin Kernan’s
phrase “high heroic terms” without properly quoting and
acknowledging its source, the writer
would have plagiarized.
Text Example 3
Paraphrasing the text while maintaining the basic paragraph and
sentence structure
Almost all of Shakespeare’s Hamlet can be understood as a play
about acting and the other
theatre. For, example, in Act 1, hamlet pretends to be insane in
order to make sure his enemies
do not discover his mission to revenge his father’s murder. The
theme is even more obvious
when hamlet compares the pictures of his mother’s two husbands to
show her what a bad choice
she has made, using their images to reveal the truth. Also when he
jumps into Ophelia’s grave,
hurling his challenge to Laertes, hamlet demonstrates the
foolishness of exaggerated expressions
of emotion.
Comment – Almost nothing of Kernan’s original language remains in
this rewritten paragraph.
However, the key idea, the choice and order of the examples and
even the basic structure of the
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 25
original sentences are all taken from the source. Although it would
no longer be necessary to use
quotation marks, it would absolutely be necessary to place a
citation at the end of this paragraph
to acknowledge that the content is not original. Better still would
be to acknowledge the author
in the text by adding a second sentence such as – “Alvin Kernan
provides several examples from
the play where these themes become more obvious” – and then citing
the source at the end of the
paragraph. In the case where the writer did not try to paraphrase
the source’s sentences quite so
closely, but borrowed the main idea and examples from Kernan’s
book, an acknowledgement
would still be necessary.
MISREPRESENTING ORIGINAL WORK
Failing to acknowledge one’s sources is not the only form of
misrepresenting one’s academic
work. It is also a violation of University regulations to cite a
source when in fact the material was
not obtained from that source. A student may resort to false
citation if he feels obliged to
document outside sources that he did not really consult; such a
violation is subject to the same
penalties as plagiarism. Fabricating or falsifying data of any kind
is also a serious academic
violation. If, for example, you discover that the data you
collected in a chemistry lab are
somewhat contaminated, useless, or wrong, you must contact the
supervisor for guidance.
Perhaps you will receive permission to write your report based on
data collected by another
student; perhaps you will be asked to figure out what went wrong
with your own lab work. But
in no case should you fabricate data.
Without proper permission, submitting the identical or similar work
in more than one course is
also a violation of university regulations.
THE QUESTION OF COLLABORATION
In many courses, particularly in the sciences, where you may work
with a laboratory team or on
a group project, some of the work is done in collaboration with
fellow students. In such courses,
some of your grade may be based on joint efforts with other
students, and some of your grade
may be based on independent work on papers and examinations.
To avoid confusion and possible violations of academic regulations,
you must clearly understand
what work must be done independently and what work may be done
collaboratively. What is
considered permissible collaboration will vary from course to
course. Some supervisors permit
students to do problem sets together and even to turn in an
assignment together; other
supervisors allow students to discuss the problems but require them
to write up their own
answers; still others prohibit any collaboration at all on take
home assignments. The penalty for
copying weekly problem set solutions or assignments can be just as
severe as plagiarism on a
major project report.
If you must turn in work and are not sure of the course policy, do
your work independently.
Never assume that you have permission to do a problem set or report
collaboratively. Given the
variability from supervisor to supervisor, it is also very
dangerous to rely on the “rules” from
another course, even within the same department. Too many times,
students have turned in
identical or similar problem sets, laboratory reports, or papers,
only to discover that they were
operating under a false set of assumptions. The wise thing to do is
to ask.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 26
WORKING HABITS THAT WORK
1. Take complete and careful notes. Whatever note-taking system you
use, make sure to
distinguish carefully between any passages copied directly from
your source, information
from your source, and your own ideas and comments. When copying
passages verbatim from
a source, make sure to use quotation marks and to be precise about
recording the page
number(s) of the source. You will save yourself much time and
aggravation if you make your
notes accurately and completely the first time around. Students
often get into trouble because
their notes are incomplete or confused, and they run out of time to
go back to check their
sources.
2. Keep all of your notes until after you have had your graded
papers returned to you. If any
question is raised about your work, it is much to your advantage to
be able to document your
notes and preliminary drafts of your papers.
3. Be scrupulous in drafting and checking your papers to make sure
all words borrowed from
your sources are placed in quotation marks or indented and that all
ideas and necessary
information that require citation are followed by a footnote.
4. If you do all of your work − from note-taking to drafts to final
version − on a computer,
be especially careful. The ease with which computer text can be
copied and pasted, moved
around, and edited can make the work of writing a paper quicker and
more efficient, but it can
also lead to serious errors. Make sure whatever notes you have
taken from sources are clearly
marked. If you move a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph from your
notes into your paper, be
certain that you also move any quotation marks and citations.
Create your footnotes as you go
− for both verbatim quotations and for information that must be
attributed. Too often quotation
marks and citations can get lost or confused in the shuffle; don’t
rely on your memory or
incomplete or cut-up note files at the end of the process.
A good practice is to keep computer files distinct and to label
them well. Don’t start drafting
your paper at the beginning or end of your note file; create a new
file. Rather than cutting and
pasting from note files to your paper file, use "copy and paste"
instead so that your original
note files remain intact. Be sure to keep track of the file names
of the various drafts of your
papers so that you don’t confuse them in the final rush to print
and submit your work. Sloppy
work habits and the pressure of deadlines are not valid defences if
you are charged with
plagiarism or another violation. It is also a good idea to print
out a hard copy of your work
periodically, and to back up your files on diskettes, CDs, or
memory keys, in order to avoid a
crisis if your computer fails. Develop a sensible plan to keep
track of your work on the
computer and stick to it.
5. Understand the difference between primary and secondary sources,
but know that you
must cite quotations, ideas, and information from both. Most
students learn how to quote
from a primary source. For example, if you are writing a paper
about The Joker of Seville or
the Laws of Barbados, you know to put any quotation from that
primary source in quotation
marks. Too often, however, students are not trained to use
secondary sources, such as an essay
of literary criticism on Walcott’s novel or a scholarly book on the
Laws of Barbados. Students
in disciplinary hearings sometimes claim that they did not know
that ideas or words from
secondary sources require citation, or that they thought such
material was common knowledge.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 27
However, the principle is clear: you must always distinguish your
own words and ideas from
the words and ideas of others, whether in primary or secondary
sources.
6. Do not rely on a single secondary source when doing a research
paper. Try to find
multiple sources that provide varying perspectives and draw
different conclusions on your
research topic. Your paper will be better if you respond to a
variety of sources, and you will
avoid any possibility of depending so much on a single source that
you can be charged with
plagiarism.
7. Whenever possible, show all of your work in problems sets that
require calculation.
8. Be sure you understand the supervisor’s expectations and
guidelines for collaborating on
assignments such as lab reports, problem sets, and research
projects. If the rules for the course
are not explicit, do yourself (and your fellow students) a favour
and ask the supervisor to
clarify them.
9. Be extra careful to verify the accuracy or validity of
information obtained from electronic
sources. Be sure to cite such sources just as you would print
sources.
10. If you are unsure whether or not to cite a source, ask your
supervisor. If that is not possible,
follow the basic rule: when in doubt, cite.
11. Be your own hardest critic. Reread your papers to see how much
is your own and how
much is quotation or paraphrase from primary or secondary sources.
If your paper is replete
with ideas and quotations from your sources, are you confident that
you have found some
idea or thesis of your own to argue? If there are almost no
citations, have you done sufficient
reading and research to be confident in your information and
analysis?
12. Be sure you understand your supervisor’s expectations for your
work. Are you supposed
to be summarizing a source or analyzing it? Are you expected to go
beyond the assigned
readings? Are you expected to use two sources? Six?
13. Be cautious about using notes belonging to other students, even
if you are in the
preliminary stage of writing your own paper or doing your own
problem set. Keeping others’
ideas distinct from your own is an important way to protect the
integrity of your own
academic work and to avoid unintended plagiarism.
14. If you do not understand an assignment or need additional time
to complete it, ask your
supervisor. Students occasionally, out of desperation, make the
wrong choice by plagiarizing
their sources rather than requesting an extension.
15. This last piece of advice is the hardest of all to follow: give
yourself enough time to do
your work well and carefully. Proper citation takes time. Avoid
last-minute rushes when
the pressure of the due date may tempt you to get sloppy or cut
corners you know you
shouldn’t just to finish. At 5 a.m. after an all-nighter, you may
not be thinking clearly enough
to make the right choices about properly acknowledging your
sources. Not to mention that
you are hardly likely to be doing your finest work at that
hour.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 28
These regulations regarding safe laboratory practice are intended
to help students work safely
with chemicals. Safe laboratory practice is based on understanding
and respecting chemicals, not
fearing them. These guidelines cover ordinary hazards and apply to
any laboratory experiments
students will encounter. During laboratory lectures, the instructor
will discuss specific safety
precautions relevant to any one experiment. The laboratory textbook
or manual will point out
specific hazards and precautions. Before beginning an experiment,
have this information on hand
and understand it thoroughly. Do not hesitate to consult if you
have questions about an
experiment or these regulations.
It is the students’ responsibility to read and follow the safety
regulations in this manual and to
keep it with them in the laboratory. Any other safety handouts or
special precautions mentioned
during laboratory lecture must also be observed.
Failure to follow laboratory safety rules and procedures may cause
injury to students or their
colleagues. Call unsafe practices by colleagues to their attention
and (if necessary) to the
attention of the instructor.
I. Safety Regulations and Precautions
Accidents in the laboratory are the result of carelessness or
ignorance by students or their
neighbours. Stay alert and pay constant attention to your own and
to your neighbours’
actions. The safety precautions outlined below will be useless
unless students plan every
experiment, understand every operation, and think through the
consequences of every procedure
before they perform it. The following kinds of accidents are
common: fire, explosion, chemical
& thermal burns, cuts from broken tubing & thermometers,
absorption of toxic (but non-
corrosive) chemicals through the skin, and inhalation of toxic
fumes. Less common (but
nonetheless dangerous) is the ingestion of toxic chemicals. Each of
these accident types is
discussed in a general way below; more specific reference to
certain hazards will be found in the
experiment information handouts.
1. Laboratory Use: Students may work in instructional laboratories
only during regularly
scheduled times on authorized experiments with supervision by an
authorized teaching
assistant or member of the faculty. Working alone in the laboratory
is strictly forbidden.
2. Safety Equipment: It is the students’ responsibility to know the
location and operation
of fire extinguishers, shower & eye wash stations, fire
blankets, and any other safety
equipment provided in the laboratory.
3. Eye Protection: SAFETY GOGGLES MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES when
in
the laboratory. Students who do not follow the eye-protection
requirement will be asked
to leave the laboratory. It is more the rule than the exception for
flying glass and
spattered chemicals to hit the face. Even if students are not
conducting a reaction or other
operation, their neighbors are working and may have an accident
which spatters
themselves or other students.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 29
4. Clothing: Long hair and billowy clothing must be confined when
in the laboratory.
Shoes are mandatory; aprons are recommended. Sandals (or
opened-toed shoes) and
shorts (or short skirts) are inappropriate.
5. Fire: Open flames are to be used only with permission in
specified locations. Make it a
working rule that water is the only nonflammable liquid you are
likely to encounter. Treat
all others in the vicinity of a flame as you would gasoline.
Specifically - never heat any
organic solvent with a flame in an open vessel (such as a test
tube, Erlenmeyer flask, or
beaker). Such solvents should be heated with a steambath (not a
hotplate) and the
flammable vapors drawn off with an aspirator tube by working in a
hood. Never keep a
volatile solvent (such as ether, acetone, or benzene) in a beaker
or an open Erlenmeyer
flask. The vapors will creep along the bench, ignite, and flash
back if they reach a flame.
It is the students’ responsibility to know where the nearest shower
and fire extinguisher
are located and how to operate them. Always point an extinguisher
at the outer reaches of
a flame and work inward. Call for additional extinguishers.
6. Explosion: Never heat a closed system or conduct a reaction in a
closed system (unless
specifically directed to perform the latter process and then only
with frequent venting).
Before starting a distillation or chemical reaction, make certain
that the system is vented.
The result of an explosion is flying glass and spattered chemicals,
both usually hot and
corrosive.
7. Chemical and Thermal Burns: Many inorganic chemicals (such as
the mineral acids
and alkalis) are corrosive to the skin and eyes. Likewise, many
organic chemicals (such
as acid halides, phenols, and so on) are corrosive and often toxic.
If they are spilled on
the benchtop, in the hood, or on a shelf, clean them up before you
leave the spill area.
8. Cuts: The most common laboratory accident is the cut received
while attempting to force
glass tubing into rubber stopper or rubber tubing onto a stirring
rod, a thermometer, or the
sidearm of a filtration flask. Lubricate the stopper and use a
gentle rotating pressure on
the glass part. Severed nerves and tendons are common injuries
caused by improper
manipulation of glass tubes and thermometers. Always pull rather
than push on the glass
when possible. In addition to these safety precautions, remember to
use caution when
inserting syringe needles into plastic tubing.
9. Absorption of Chemicals: Keep chemicals off the skin. Many
organic substances are not
corrosive, do not burn the skin, or do not seem to have any serious
effects; nevertheless,
they are absorbed through the skin and may have serious
consequences. Other chemicals
will give a serious allergic reaction upon repeated exposure, as
evidenced by severe
dermatitis. For the organic laboratory, it may be advisable to wear
gloves when handling
some reagents. The best type of glove to wear depends upon the
reagent used and specific
information will be given in lab lecture for individual chemicals.
Gloves provide only a
temporary layer of protection against chemicals on your skin. If
gloves become
discolored, develop holes, or begin to deteriorate, remove them
immediately, wash your
hands thoroughly and get a new pair.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 30
10. Inhalation of Chemicals: Keep your nose away from organic
chemicals. Many of the
common solvents are toxic if inhaled in any quantity or for any
length of time. Do not
evaporate excess solvents in the laboratory; on the contrary, use
the hood or a suitable
distillation apparatus with a condenser. Some compounds (such as
acetyl chloride) will
severely irritate membranes in the eyes, nose, throat and lungs,
while others (such as
benzyl chloride) induce eye irritation and tears. When in doubt,
use the hood, or better
yet, consult the laboratory instructor about the chemicals required
for a particular
experiment.
11. Ingestion of Chemicals: The following are common ways of
accidentally ingesting
harmful chemicals:
(d) By using chemicals taken from the laboratory.
i. Pipettes must be fitted with suction bulbs to transfer
chemicals.
Never use mouth suction.
ii. Wash your hands before handling anything (cigarettes, chewing
gum or
food etc.) that goes into the mouth. Always wash your hands when
you
leave the laboratory.
iii. Do not eat or drink in the laboratory. Use water fountains
outside the
laboratory when thirsty - not laboratory faucets.
iv. Never use chemicals (such as salt and sugar) from the
laboratory or
stockroom as food additives. The source containers may be
contaminated
or mislabeled.
v. Never use laboratory glassware as food and drink
containers.
vi. Never store food or drink in a laboratory refrigerator or ice
machine;
Never consume ice from an ice machine.
12. Accident Reports: All accidents (including contact with
chemicals, any cuts, burns, or
inhalation of fumes) must be reported to an instructor immediately.
Any treatment
beyond emergency first aid will be referred to the Student Health
Clinic. Severe
emergencies will be referred to the Hospital Emergency Room.
II. EMERGENCY PROCEDURES IN THE CHEMISTRY LABORATORY
Fire: 311
Ambulance: 511
Police: 211
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 31
1. Critical Emergencies are rare. The first priority (besides
yelling for help) is to reduce
or eliminate the hazard: turn off gas, open the windows, shut off
the power supplies, and
so on. If the victim isn’t breathing, immediately do what you can
to get breathing started.
Oftentimes, carefully straightening the victim’s neck (jutting the
jaw slightly forward)
works effectively. If it doesn’t, start mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation. If the victim is
breathing and out of immediate danger, you can wait for help to
arrive. Call the
ambulance and describe as accurately as possible what happened.
Whenever an
ambulance is called, someone should wait by the building entrance
to guide the medical
crew to the accident site.
2. Report all accidents immediately to the laboratory instructor or
a staff member. If
practical, the staff member should administer first aid. The
suggestions given here are
meant for emergency use, that is, only when it is necessary to
administer first aid. All
minor cuts and burns should receive medical attention. Always err
on the side of caution.
3. In any accident involving one or more chemicals, make every
effort to find out the
names of the chemicals so that appropriate measures can be taken at
the hospital.
4. When medical attention is required, call the Emergency Room with
information about
the injury and the chemical(s) involved. Accompany the victim to
the hospital. If the
accident victim cannot be moved, call an ambulance.
(a) Eyes. Get help immediately! Chemicals in the eyes must be
removed at once by
flooding with large quantities of water. Help the victim. Use the
eye wash station
if possible. Otherwise, place the victim on the floor, by force if
necessary. One
person should straddle the victim with knees on the floor, pouring
a moderate
stream of water from a flask or beaker onto the bridge of the
victim’s nose so that
both eyes are flooded. Another person should squat at the head of
the victim and
roll back both eyelids; use the thumb and forefinger to spread the
eyelids open;
the victim will not be able to do this voluntarily. Use several
litres of water. When
it is reasonably certain that the excess chemicals have been washed
away, take the
victim to the Emergency Room for immediate medical attention.
(b) Chemicals on the skin. All chemicals that come in contact with
the body should
be considered toxic; they should be washed off completely with soap
and water
even if they do not appear to be corrosive. Wash off corrosive
substances by
flooding the skin with tap water, using the safety shower if
necessary, and
stripping off any clothing and shoes that are soaked with
chemicals.
Acids: After washing the skin thoroughly with water, rub on a paste
of sodium
bicarbonate and water; do not use the paste on burns to the
eyes.
Alkalis: After washing the skin thoroughly with water, apply a 1%
solution of
boric acid (available in the laboratory).
Bromine: Work fast. Wash the excess bromine off the skin and
immediately rub
the entire area with a generous amount of glycerine (available in
the laboratory).
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 32
(c) Inhalation of chemicals. Get fresh air. Report all incidents
(to the Laboratory
instructor) when more than a smell is inhaled or when prolonged
exposure to
laboratory fumes has induced faintness or a headache.
(d) Ingestion of chemicals. Call the Poison Centre for recommended
treatment.
Vomiting can be dangerous if the vomit gets into the lungs; most
serious
poisoning problems are best treated in the Hospital Emergency Room.
If
necessary, induce vomiting by having the victim swallow as much
warm water as
possible, as rapidly as possible. Adding one or two teaspoons of
table salt per
glass of warm water will help. Vomiting should be encouraged by
having the
victim swallow additional water until the vomited liquid is
clear.
(e) Cuts: Serious bleeding should be controlled by applying direct
pressure to the
wound with clean gauze or a cloth pad. Minor cuts should be washed
with tap
water, allowed to bleed briefly, pressed with a clean cotton pad or
piece of gauze,
and then covered with gauze to keep the wound clean. More sever
cuts (especially
those involving glass or other objects in the wound) require
medical attention.
(f) Clothing fires. Call for help and a blanket. When someone’s
clothing catches
fire, the flame and smoke can rise and be inhaled. Unless a shower
is immediately
available or can be reached without inhalation damage, place the
victim prone on
the floor (forcibly if necessary) and roll in a blanket. Put out
the flames with your
hands or smother them with heavy garments.
(g) Thermal burns. Any burn that is extensive, severe, or involves
the eyes of face
should be considered serious. A burn involving the respiratory
tract could be
critical. Call the ambulance. Minor burns should be treated by
washing the
burned area with cold tap water. Wrapping the burned area lightly
with a clean
wet cloth reduces pain. Do not use ointments or salves unless
instructed by a
physician.
(h) Faintness. If the victim is conscious, have that person sit
down and place the head
between the knees. Give support to prevent a fall. If the person is
weak or has
fainted, lay the victim on the floor; raise the feet and legs a
little above the level
of the head. Call for medical assistance if the victim fails to
regain consciousness
within half a minute. Insist that the person remain quiet (sitting
or lying down) for
a few minutes after recovery unless it is necessary to take the
victim to the
hospital for treatment.
Note: All people have some reaction to being injured; often they
become faint. Always require a
person to be seated while being examined or receiving treatment.
One should not add a fractured
skull to the original injury as a result of the victim falling over
in a faint.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 33
DURING PREGNANCY
The Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences acknowledges
that some laboratory
environments may present possible medical hazards to an unborn
child. The Department
of Biological and Chemical Sciences is committed to the concept and
principles of ALARA
(as low as reasonably achievable). As part of this effort, it is
also the policy of The
Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences to establish
procedures to minimize the
potential for adverse health effects to the unborn child of a
mother who attends class in an
environment in which reproductive hazards may be present.
The following environment is an area of concern:
CHEMICAL EXPOSURES & ENVIRONMENTS: Certain chemicals and
processes may
represent a risk to an unborn child. A student who works in an
environment in which hazardous
chemicals or processes are used should immediately notify her
instructor, Head of Department or
Dean once pregnancy is suspected. The Instructor, Head of
Department or Dean (with support
from the Safety Committee) must evaluate the work environment for
the presence of
reproductive hazards and then determine and communicate the risks
for the unborn child. Based
on this evaluation, the Department of Biological and Chemical
Sciences may recommend
changes in the environment and activities of the pregnant student
or an academic course, or other
appropriate accommodation in which there is minimal exposure to the
hazard.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 34
RESPECT.
OUT of eyes, lungs, mouth
AWAY from flames
EAT, DRINK, OR SMOKE in the laboratory
ALWAYS: WEAR goggles
USE common sense, caution, and good laboratory
practice in the manipulation and storage of chemicals.
WASH HANDS BEFORE eating.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 35
Column preparation
Columns using silica gel or florisil are best prepared by the
slurry method.
Column chromatography
a. Rule of thumb: 1 gram of compound per 30 g of adsorbent. This
can vary somewhat
depending on your system.
b. Volume of fractions: 100 mL for every gram put on the
column.
c. Mass balance: Know what went on so that you can judge when
everything has been
removed. Tare 50 mL Erlenmeyer flasks.
d. Solvents for column chromatography must be distilled to remove
any oil or other residue
that will contaminate your fractions.
Chloroform recovery
When large amounts of this solvent are being used for, say, column
chromatography, it should be
distilled and re-used, inasmuch as chloroform is very expensive.
Pure commercial chloroform is
stabilized against decomposition (to the highly poisonous phosgene)
by the addition of
approximately 0.75% EtOH. An appropriate amount of EtOH should thus
be added to recovered
CHCl3. In recovering CHCl3 that is contaminated with benzene,
simply record the boiling range
of the fraction and re-use where such a mixture of
benzene-chloroform is called for.
Destroying water-sensitive organometallic intermediates
should be handled carefully by
a. cooling the reaction flask first with an ice bath and
b. adding cold water (slowly) or other decomposition agents.
Distillation
Every time you stop a distillation and then restart it, a fresh
boiling chip must be added. The
same applies to recrystallization.
Filtration by gravity
“Flute” your filter paper for much more efficient filtration by
folding in half, then in quarters,
then in eights, then in sixteenths, then unfolding
completely.
Ice baths
Always add water (or other suitable fluid) to a crushed ice bath in
order to provide proper heat
exchange between vessel and frozen phase. Cracked ice by itself
does not do the job (too many
air pockets)! For ice bath temperatures a few degrees below zero,
have handy a saturated solution
of NaCl (brine) and use it as the heat-exchange fluid.
Molecular sieves
Pure distilled solvents can be stored over these. Sieves of various
sizes scavenge water very
efficiently when the latter is in trace amounts.
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 36
Water sensitive reactions need to be protected especially carefully
(drying tubes, glassware dried
in the oven then cooled in a large desiccator).
Nitrogen/Argon
Acceptable arrangements always start with the N2/Ar being directed
through a drying tower
containing, for instance, Drierite.
a. N2/Ar can pass through your vessel and then be bubbled through a
viscous fluid
(mercury, glycerol, etc.) so as to provide some “resistance” to the
flow. That is to say,
never allow N2/Ar to flow “out the other side” freely.
b. Alternatively, N2/Ar can “dead end” at your reaction flask, with
a branch on the N2/Ar
line leading to a suitable bubbler situated between the drying
tower and the vessel.
c. Alternatively, N2/Ar can be connected by way of a three way
stopcock to a manometer
and aspirator so that a vessel can be evacuated and flushed
sequentially.
d. Alternatively, a balloon can be used (separate entry).
Ovens
Glassware with more than a mL of flammable organic solvent in them
should not be dried in
ovens due to the obvious fire and explosion hazard.
Reactions requiring dry glassware
Dry the glassware overnight in the oven at temperatures in excess
of 100 °C. Remove the
glassware, assembling it while hot, with any opening to the
atmosphere being “closed” with a
drying tube. Alternatively, let the glassware cool down in a
desiccator the opening to which is
also protected by a drying tube. This procedure is vital when
running alkyllithium or Grignard
reactions.
Recrystallization
Beakers and Erlenmeyers work best. Test tubes are fine for very
small quantities.
Refrigerators
a. Open beakers of any solvent should never be stored in
refrigerators, even though these
supposedly have been modified so as to be “explosion proof”.
b. At the end of your project, check with your supervisor(s) so as
to determine what can be
discarded.
Stopcock grease
Avoid putting high vacuum stopcock grease on glassware unless
necessary (e.g. vacuum
distillation). Grease can contaminate samples very easily. You can
remove grease with hexane
and then acetone.
Teflon stopcocks
These tend to conform to the shape of the barrel (of a separatory
funnel or column). Thus, when
storing these, leave the stopcock in a loosened condition lest they
freeze – and they will!
CHEM3950 – BASIC PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY Academic Year: 2021-2022
CHEM3955 – RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHEMISTRY
Page 37
Thin-layer chr