Chemistry
Chapter 1: Introduction to Chemistry How I got Hooked on Chemistry
In 1979 I took a course at the University of Connecticut called Advanced Organic Chemistry. Our Professor was Sam Huang, who gave us instructions on the first day and then we rarely saw him again. We were told we had to complete three experiments: 1. Identify an unknown pure chemical sample 2. Purify and identify 2 unknown chemicals in a mixture 3. Create a new chemical He gave each of us a vial with a liquid or a powder in it. We had three weeks to identify it. Mine was a shiny white solid. Under a magnifying glass it appeared as flat white plates. It melted sharply at 212 degrees Celsius. A big clue was discovered when I placed it under ultraviolet light- it glowed with a bright blue color. With this information I was able to correctly identify the solid as Anthracene, a constituent of coal. Next, he gave each of us another vial. We were told it was a mixture of two chemicals. We had three weeks to separate and identify them. This time the vial had a dull white powder in it. I watched as my lab partners set up complex chromatography and distillation devices and began tedious separations of their mixtures. Ugh. Under a magnifying glass two distinct crystals could Anthracene be identified- needles and plates. It took a couple days, but I was able to separate my mixture using a pair of tweezers and the magnifying glass, and identify each sample. Finally, we had the rest of the semester to make a new chemical. I got so excited about this one that I skipped spring break and spent it at the library. Yes, I had become a science nerd, big time. It was my first time reading real accounts of chemical research and I found it fascinating. Here people were creating chemicals to treat cancer, make bulletproof plastics, all sorts of projects ‌but what really interested me was the field of natural products- the study of natural, not manmade, chemicals. I found a research paper where the individual chemical that creates the main flavor of pineapples and strawberries was created in the lab. It was called furaneol, and I decided I would make my own version of it with a slight chemical change designed to give it a sweeter taste. The initial experiments were a disaster. There were chemicals I needed that weren’t in the O stockroom. My lab partners were goofing off while I was working with dangerous chemicals. And soon the deadline was approaching, but in the end I managed to make a small amount of a white solid, and the spectroscopic data matched the HO OH chemical structure. I realized that with enough effort any chemical one could imagine could eventually be made, and it seemed to me this was a powerful tool. I furaneol changed my major from biology to chemistry, and two years later I had my first job making chemicals designed to study cancer. In this class each of you will be given a similar opportunity to explore, imagine, and create using the chemical skills and knowledge from this class. In your first hands-on experiment you will be asked to create an artistic design using some safe, simple ingredients. By the time this class is near complete you will be ready to identify unknown samples and safely perform your own initial chemical research in a field of your choice. Our first chapter: Introduction to chemistry, will follow the following tentative schedule: Day 1: Introduction to Chemistry Introductions, hand out packet, water into wine demonstration, whoosh bottle demonstration, class picture, class rules.
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