CHEM 2380: Synthesis I Laboratory

Spring 2017
Lab Report Guidelines
General Comments

Lab reports should be no more than 3 pages, excluding attached spectra and post-lab questions.
Throughout the report, you should write concisely and use complete sentences. Format your report
such that everything is easily found, read, and understood by the reader. Use headings and section
titles as necessary. The following guidelines should be adhered to for each section. The grading cover
page that is provided for each experiment should be attached to the front of your report.

Title and Overall Reaction

For each report, include a title centered at the top of the first page. The title should be specific,
descriptive, and brief but should not be the same as the experiment title. For example, the first
experiment is "Separation of a Solid Mixture." You may choose something along the lines of "Separation
of Benzoic Acid, Benzil, and 4-Nitroaniline Using Extraction & Washing Techniques." This title
specifies the overall goal of the experiment as well as tells what reagents/products were used and/or
synthesized.

Centered below the title, you should include your name, your lab section, and the date that the lab
report is submitted. Centered below the byline, you should include the specific, balanced overall
reaction that was performed. Include reagents and/or solvents above/below the arrow. If no reaction is
performed, the compounds that are being isolated or worked with should be listed. For example, for
experiment 1, you would include the structures of benzoic acid, benzil, and 4-nitroaniline.

All structures and/or reactions should be hand drawn or constructed using ChemBioDraw. Copy/pasted
structures and/or reactions from any source other than your brain will not be accepted, whether or not you cited
them.

Introduction

The introduction should open with a brief statement (1-2 sentences) regarding the purpose and/or goals
of the experiment. For example, an introduction for the first experiment might start with "The purpose
of this experiment is to separate a mixture of organic solids using extraction and washing techniques.
Benzoic acid, 4-nitroaniline, and benzil can be separated by taking advantage of their acid/base
reactivities." Also include in your introduction any analytical techniques that are used to assess the
 CHEM 2380: Synthesis I Laboratory
Spring 2017
Lab Report Guidelines
success of the experiment. For example, "Following separation, the compounds are analyzed using thin
layer chromatography to determine their purities."
Your introduction should also include any experimental hypotheses, any necessary background
information, a drawn representation of the reaction mechanism and a written explanation of the
reaction mechanism, and any equations used in the experiment or in data analysis. Include any data or
values from the literature (and a citation!) that you expect to be confirmed or contradicted in the
experiment. The introduction should be no more than one page (you may use up to 1.5 pages if the
mechanism is lengthy).

Results

The results section primarily contains your data and calculations. Present your data in a neat, organized
fashion. Tables are ideal. You should include any necessary graphs, data tables, results tables,
NMR/IR/GC/Characterization data tables, yields, and any necessary sample calculations. All tables
should be titled and any necessary units should be included. Percent yields/recovery should always be
presented as whole numbers.

Discussion & Conclusion Questions

You will be provided with specific questions to answer in this section. These questions are designed to
help guide you in thinking about a problem or an experiment. With the aid of these prompts and
feedback on your reports, you will be expected to progress in your writing, independent thinking, and
understanding of how to discuss your results and what conclusions should be drawn from them.

Supplemental Information

Supplemental information is the procedural and characterization information that would be provided
with a literature paper. It should be formatted as follows, beginning with the specific overall reaction
scheme. Also, be sure to attach any relevant spectra.

Compound IUPAC name. Methyl benzoate (0.32 mL, 24 mmol) was added to a mixture of nitric acid
(0.96 mL, 55 mmol) and sulfuric acid (1.23 mL, 3.41 mmol), and the reaction mixture was stirred
vigorously for ten minutes. The reaction mixture was transferred to a separatory funnel and washed
twice with saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution (5 mL) and once with saturated aqueous
sodium chloride solution (10 mL). The organic layer was dried (MgSO 4), filtered, and concentrated to
give the product as a white solid (0.45 g, 32%): m.p. = 76-78 C; IR (film) 3534, 2946, 1610, 1512, 1456
cm-1; 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) 7.49-7.47 (m, 2H), 7.14 (d, J = 8.6 Hz, 2H), 6.86 (d, J = 8.6 Hz, 2H), 4.82
(d, J = 2.1 Hz, 1H), 3.80 (s, 3H), 2.83 (ddd, J = 14.1, 8.4, 5.7 Hz, 1H).