Resumen de Asymmetric Aldol Additions: A Guided-Inquiry Laboratory Activity on Catalysis
Jorge H. Torres King, Hong Wang, Ellen J. Yezierski
Despite the importance of asymmetric catalysis in both the pharmaceutical and commodity chemicals industries, asymmetric catalysis is under-represented in undergraduate chemistry laboratory curricula. A novel guided-inquiry experiment based on the asymmetric aldol addition was developed. Students conduct lab work to compare the effectiveness of different catalysts in catalyzing the asymmetric aldol addition of a ketone and an aldehyde. Working in pairs, students use a variety of analytical techniques including 1-D and 2-D NMR spectroscopy and chiral chromatography and write their final report in the format of an ACS style publication. Although this experiment was designed for an advanced undergraduate synthesis laboratory course, it can be readily adapted for use in an organic or an inorganic laboratory course.
