Title (name of the product for this step; ask if you have questions!);
References: give the citation to the source, including the title of the article, publication year, volume (if available) and pages. Do not reference your source(s) used for the table of reagents, unless you use the data explicitly in the report.
Scheme: – structural drawing of the main reaction. You may use ChemDraw or handwrite the scheme.
Procedure: it should now look as a single experimental procedure in a Journal of Organic Chemistry note. Write a paragraph or two using formal/passive style (not a cookbook or list) describing the actual procedure that was carried out. You need to include amounts used (grams or mL as well as moles), and how long things actually took. Do not forget to include your observations and physical appearance of your product. Also include the percent yield of the product, based on theoretical yield. Do NOT base your % yield on the anticipated yield reported in your original reference. This part should be very much like the original procedure you used, but modified based on what you did.
Product characterization: If there is MP/BP reported in your literature procedure, definitely start with it and then discuss information from the spectra that you acquired. You are required to discuss 3 out of 4 spectra (attach these spectra). My recommendation is to try to take all 4, if possible, then decide which one is the least helpful. You need to report how you characterized the product: Tabulate all four spectra that you would expect to see for the product you were trying to make, even if you only obtained 3 spectra. Show proton and C-13 NMR on the structure.
At this point, the format of the write-up is very much like a single experimental procedure found in the Journal of Organic Chemistry, which can be found in the Pharmacy library or online from an XU computer (I have also sent you an article from this journal).
You will also need to assign specific structural features on all the spectra you actually obtained. You can write the interpretation directly on the spectra, but you must still comment on your interpretation in the discussion. For the 1H NMR, make the assignments right on a drawing of your molecule. Compare your spectra with the starting material and with expected spectra. In addition, if your spectra have signals that do NOT belong to your compound, you need to identify them as best as you can. For example, you would need to identify the solvent that had not been removed;
unreacted starting material; unknown byproducts. At a minimum, indicate “unknown impurity”, but do not overuse this term: if it is obvious to me what it is, you have to know it too.
Summary: In addition, write a summary to state explicitly if the reaction worked or not, and if it worked, how well. What makes you think you have or have not made your product?
It is perfectly possible that the GC/MS looks terrific, but the proton NMR shows just the solvent; be prepared that not all your spectra may lead you to the same conclusion. Also discuss anything you did differently than your planned procedure and describe things that might have gone wrong and/or things you would do differently if you did this reaction again. Include comments on things that were important that you did do correctly, e.g., “The acid was added dropwise, which was important, because the solution built up heat.”
As the semester proceeds, the quality of your spectra will count more and more in your grade. NMR spectra should have good signal to noise ratios, though we do understand that not all carbons are easily seen in 13C spectra (generally it can be difficult to observe the carbons that have no Hs attached, particularly, carbonyl carbons). Proton NMR spectra should be well phased, referenced correctly, and should have integrals for all important signals. If the GC/MS shows more than one peak, you should get fragmentation information for all “significantly large” peaks, i.e., those that are at least 1/3 as prominent as the largest peak. You are not expected to interpret all of the peaks in mass-spectrum, but you should look for a molecular ion peak, isotopic peaks (especially, Cl and Br if applicable) and try to make sense from most intensive peaks. IR spectra should show bands clearly.
