Elemental analysis is performed in a variety of ways in food and environmental sciences; thus, we have designed an activity in which students gain experience with research-level lab techniques in a real-world context through the quantification of key elements in breakfast cereals using microwave plasma optical emission spectroscopy (MP-OES). The experiment described here is a skill building assignment to scaffold into more advanced projects with research-level instrumentation and in analytical chemistry courses. Students compare their results to the nutrition facts published by the distributors in order to identify their cereals, emphasizing precision and accuracy in instrumental analysis and good standard operating procedures (SOPs). Although cereals were chosen on the basis of the relevance of fortified minerals in this study, variations of this method may be used for the analysis of different food products. The student learning objectives of this experiment include developing SOPs for emission spectroscopy, creating and using standard curves to determine detection limits and elemental concentrations, presenting results using the proper format along with using statistical techniques such as standard deviation and method detection limit, and writing a report following the form of a technical journal article. MP-OES is a relatively new, sensitive, and inexpensive technique for elemental analysis, making it a practical choice for an undergraduate laboratory.

Amino acid containing polymers were synthesized from reaction of diglycine and group 4 metallocene dihalides employing the interfacial condensation process in decent yield and chain lengths.Yield increases as the metallocene metal weight increases consistent with the hard/soft acid theory.Chain length decreases as the metallocene weight increases.Infrared, MALDI MS, and NMR results are consistent with the proposed repeat unit.The polymers exhibit good inhibition of all cell lines tested including two pancreatic, two brain, two breast, prostate and lung human cancer cell lines.

The ability to inhibit two important viruses is described. Two groups of polymers exhibited ability to totally inhibit the Zika virus. These polymers are derived from organotin dihalides and camphoric acid and lamivudine. This is the initial report of complete inhibition of the Zika virus by simple drugs. The ability to inhibit vaccinia virus is also reported. The inhibition of the vaccinia virus is shown by a number of organotin drugs including those also derived from lamivudine and camphoric acid and additional drugs derived from 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole, dicumarol, 4,6-diaminopyridine, alpha-cyano-4-hydroxcinnamic acid, and a variety of organotin polyethers including water soluble polymers derived from poly(ethylene glycol). All the drugs described in these studies are rapidly (< 30 s) synthesized using commercially available reactants at room temperature employing the interfacial reaction system that is employed industrially so that scale up to kilograms is relatively straight forward.

Organotin poly(amine ethers) were rapidly synthesized in good yield employing the interfacial polycondensation system. Yield increases as the size of the alkyl group on the tin increases. Synthesis employed commercially available reactants allowing for ready production in gram to kilogram quantities. Infrared spectroscopy showed the formation of new bands characteristic of the Sn-Oand Sn-N linkages. MALDI MS shows ion fragment clusters to nine and ten units in length. The polymers exhibit decent inhibition of all of the tested human cancer cell lines including two human pancreatic, two human breast and two human glioblastoma brain cancer cell lines.

Poly(amine esters) were synthesized from reaction of organotin dichlorides with the dipeptide diglycine. The products were generally high polymers and produced in high yield with yield increasing as the organotin alkyl chain increases in length. Reaction is rapid. Bands characteristic of the formation of the Sn–O–(C=O) and Sn–NH are found in the infrared spectra of the product. MALDI MS and NMR results are consistent with the proposed structure. The products show decent inhibition of all of the tested human solid cancer cell lines including two human pancreatic, two human breast and two human brain cancer cell lines.

A postsecondary institution partnered with several high schools in a large, urban and highly diverse school district in the southeast U.S. through a GK-12 program funded by the National Science Foundation. The main goal of the project was to investigate the potential impact of the GK-12 program on the ability of graduate students to communicate their scientific research and expertise to a non-technical audience comprised of high school chemistry, biotechnology, and environmental science students and teachers. The graduate student presentations about their research were videotaped before, during, and after their participation in the program. Applying a standardized communications rubric, analysis of the video presentations indicated significant improvement in the graduate students' communication skills during their participation in the program. In addition, graduate student perception of their improvement in communication skills was demonstrated through a qualitative survey. Implications for the training of graduate students in communication skills are discussed.

Organotin polyesters were synthesized from d-camphoric acid. Since d-camphoric acid is a natural product, this is part of the green chemistry initiative. Further, synthesis occurred employing commercially available reactants and the interfacial system which is used industrially to synthesize aramids and polycarbonates. Thus, scale-up is straightforward. Polymers were synthesized employing the interfacial reaction between various organotin dihalides and the salt of d-camphoric acid. Reaction was rapid occurring in 30 s and less. Product yield was good except for the product from dioctyltin dichloride. The products are polymeric with chain lengths from 230 to 2200. Structural characterization with infrared spectrometry and MALDI MS are consistent with the formation of organotin polyesters containing the camphoric acid moiety within its backbone. IR shows formation of the Sn–OOC(O) linkage with the polymer having a combination of bridging and non-bridging geometrical arrangements about the tin atom. MALDI MS shows ion fragment to two and three repeat units. The products exhibit good ability to inhibit a battery of cancer cells including those from pancreatic cancer. The effective concentration for inhibition of the cancer cell lines are generally in the same range as those found for cisplatin and in the ng/mL range.

Classroom demonstrations have been widely used to engage students' interest in chemistry. The challenge, however, is to also involve students in science practices and ensure that the demonstration does not become merely a spectator activity. We have developed a framework for creating pedagogically sound demonstrations that allows for easy implementation and flexibility. SQER(3)-survey, question, experiment, recite, reflect, and review-is an interactive, question-driven framework that draws clear parallels to science practices. The framework also allows students to extend their investigations through cyclical rounds of additional questions and experiments. Examples of demonstrations formatted in the SQER(3) framework are presented, and preliminary data on the effectiveness of utilizing this framework in high school classrooms is discussed.

Faculty from the chemistry and English departments have developed a combined second-semester honors general chemistry and college writing course that fosters critical thinking through challenging writing assignments. Examples of case-study writing assignments and guidelines are provided that faculty at other institutions can adapt in similar small-enrollment lower-division chemistry classes. Recommendations for the writing assignments are provided based on our experiences in developing and implementing them. These recommendations include (i) considering pedagogical principles that define instructional objectives, audience, interest and relevance, critical thinking, clarity, document design, scaffolding, scheduling, and evaluation; (ii) providing appropriate references which students use to formulate their arguments; (iii) posing ill-formed problems for students to engage course content and think critically; and (iv) staging these assignments in multiple drafts throughout the semester with detailed grading criteria provided. This guidance is necessary for such lower-division students to strengthen their college-level academic writing skills and increase their knowledge of chemistry content.

Faculty in the Departments of Chemistry and English at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) have designed and implemented an innovative, writingintensive, advanced, second-semester chemistry course combined with a laboratory component that satisfies both second semester General Chemistry and College criteria. This unusual configuration differs from typical honors chemistry courses because of its to learn approach to teaching indepth scientific content, the nature of research, and research methods. The opportunity to develop this course emerged from a collaborative relationship between our institution's Across the Curriculum (WAC) program and our chemistry department. While most writing intensive initiatives, such as the Writing like a Chemist project (Stoller, Jones, Costanza-Robinson, & Robinson, 2005), are designed for upper-division courses (Goodman & Bean, 1983; Paulson, 2001; Stoller, 2005; Shibley, 2001; Whelan & Zare, 2003), some attempts have been made to incorporate writing at the freshman level; these include parallel courses that require students to be co-registered in a writing course that is linked with a science course taught by professors of the respective disciplines (Griffin, 1985; Wilkinson, 1985). Other initiatives include using laboratory reports that incorporate more extensive writing than traditional laboratory reports (Kovac & Sherwood, 1999; Tilstra, 2001). The Science Heuristic (SWH) is an example of this approach (Greenbowe & Hand, 2005; Hand & Keys, 1999; Keys & Hand, 1999; Rudd & Greenbowe, 2001; Rudd & Greenbowe, 2002). To the best of our knowledge, however, no course that combines first-year chemistry and English has been developed before. We believe that this course creates an excellent foundation for assisting students in acquiring skills for reflection and self-assessment in chemistry and writing, introduces the practice of formulating scientific ideas through writing, improves communication skills between students and professors, and improves professional skills. We discuss the collaborative efforts that resulted in a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to develop our course, and we provide an overview of our approach, course materials, methods of instruction, and implementation. APPROACH: WAC Over the past thirty-five years, the WAC movement emerged in higher education by incorporating writing components into the curriculum across disciplines. The fundamental principles of WAC are that writing is the most efficient tool for acquiring critical-thinking skills and that having students perform welldesigned writing assignments is the best way to engage them in the subject matter (Bean, 2001). Barnes and colleagues (1989) demonstrate that writing is a vehicle for learning science meaningfully because it places importance on students being able to understand and explain clearly the meaning of fundamental scientific concepts (Glynn & Muth, 1994; Holliday, Yore, & Alvermann, 1994). Studies indicate that writing affords a minds-on emphasis in learning science and can function as a conceptual tool for assisting students in analysis, interpretation, and communication of scientific ideas (Bean, 2001; Beall, 1998; Glynn, 1994). A course that emphasizes writing as a process and develops critical thinking will challenge and motivate students, regardless of the subject matter. After a three-day Across the Curriculum workshop, participants from chemistry discussed with the director of WAC the possibility of developing an alternative course for College II that would fulfill the university WAC guidelines for such classes. Over the course of a year, we employed these guidelines to develop an innovative six-credit second semester General Chemistry course as a College II equivalent. The syllabus (see Appendix) outlines the scientific topics to be covered as well as the writing components included throughout the course. …

We have synthesized intermediates towards the preparation of a dimeric derivative of L-dopa for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease. We synthesized L-N-(butyloxycarbonyl)-3-(3-hydroxy-ethyl-4-(benzyloxy)-phenyl)alanine benzylester, a compound containing a secondary alcohol moiety that has a unique set of characteristics. Upon reduction of the precursor, which contained a ketone moiety, we synthesized a material that when formed, contained a pair of diastereomers of the secondary alcohol, each diastereomer also exhibiting two individually stable conformational isomers. We believe that the conformational isomers were generated by rotation of the C-N bond of the BOC carbamate, and were so stable that they could be separated by normal phase HPLC techniques.Energy optimization studies and molecular modeling techniques were performed using HyperChem, and rotational barrier energy values were calculated for the different conformational isomers for each of the diastereomers. HPLC and NMR techniques were also used to obtain information about these materials. Using the calculated data from these studies, and analyzing the HPLC chromatograms and NMR spectra we were able to fully determine the assignments for the diastereomers and the individual conformational isomers. We discovered that the SS form was synthesized preferentially over the SR form and, that in both cases. The E conformation was energetically more stable than the Z form.