A Research-Oriented Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Design Two major reforms in undergraduate laboratory organization have emerged in the last decade. One is the integrated or unified laboratory course which cuts across the traditional disciplinary boundaries (1-51, the other is the provision of research-oriented or professionally realistic experiences (612). The articles cited defend well the virtues of each. We have attempted to combine the best of both trends in the laboratory section of our upper-level undergraduate, one-semester inorganic chemistry course. The integration of disciplines is sought by the emphasis of physical measurements on arganometallie systems; the research orientation is created by requiring that students draft a detailed proposal for their lahoratory work, prepare monthly progress reports, present a seminar, and write a research paper. Some components in this sequence have been previously reported in a description of a January-term laboratory program (8). The entire semester is spent in the individual pursuit of a single problem either of the student's own initiation or, more often, as initially, briefly sketched by the instructor. Only prablems that contain some novel aspects and are within a broad definition of organometallic chemistry are usually allowed. Mast projects follow a standard scenario: three or four closely related compounds are prepared utilizing specialized synthesis techniques (glove box, vacuum line, Schlenk tubes, tube furnaces, etc.). At least one of the compounds is novel. After separation, purification, and analytical confirmation of composition, physical measurements (usually emphasizing a spectroscopic technique) and a study of comparative chemical reactivity are performed. The proposals are given one of three grades: "funded," "supportable but not fundable," and "not supportable," along with an itemization of deficiencies if either of the latter two grades are awarded. Usually only one revision is required before substandard proposals are "fimderl ........ .."
The next twelve weckc are spent in pursuit oi the project. S t u d m u rarely cwnplcte their proposed n,ork either hernuse t,f t ~ m plim~tatim\or becnuw the work completed has supgesrcd a new direction or emphasis. N o iprriiic penaltv for nonrnmplet,on is impwed; the progress tuwnrd completion i\ evaluated by an estimate o i t h e extent tu which new skills hakc been mastered and new ideas creatively assimilated. During the last two weeks of the semester, the students prepare a research paper with a style and organization patterned after ACS research journals. In this same period, 15-min oral seminars are presented during the regular 50-min lecture section. Several times during the semester, sessions are held to provide mutual assistance t o students faced with research problems of general interest. The result is that students have an awareness of a variety of solutions to a problem as extensive as the range of projects underway in a particular semester. Examples of projects submitted in a recent semester demonstrate the variety of approach and subject matter: "An NMR Study of Fluxional Behavior in Organosulfur-Bridged Iran Carbonyls," "An ESR Study of Chemically-Generated Arene Chromium Triearbonyl Radical Cations," "Electrical Properties of Polymers Containing Phosphorus-Carbon Backbones," "The Preparation and Characterization of Four- and Six-Membered Ring Modifications of Arsenomethane." On several occasions, students whootherwise failed t o impress their instructors during their earlier years, emerge during this course as having previously unrecognized creativity and competency. One students in a comment from an anonymous course evaluation form said, "For three years I've learned about chemistry, now I'm finally learning about being a chemist." In agreement with others who have promoted research-oriented laboratory schemes ( 6 1 2 ) , we would maintain that our program realistically patterns the professional life of most practieingchemists. Those who do not respond well to the laboratory may, nonetheless, have benefited through the knowledge that they may need toseek an alternativecareer emphasis. About half of our annual graduating class of 20-25 B.A. chemists continue their education a t the graduate level. We have seen a clear correlation between a successful first research experience in this course and the early initiation and completion of a productive graduate research program.
Literature Cited
State University of New York Plattsburgh, 12901
Arnold L. Rheingald
Volume 53, Number 10, October 1976 / 631
