4.8k words, 22 minute reading time

The stereoselective functionalization of C–H bonds represents a central challenge in modern organic synthesis. Despite decades of innovation in C–H activation chemistry, methods for Z-selective functi...

Copper is an essential element for sustaining life. However, disruptions in copper homeostasis underpin disease, as illustrated by cuproptosis, an emerging form of cell death resulting from aberrant a...

Aptamer-based biosensors offer several advantages for detecting small molecules, including chemical stability and compatibility with diverse sensing formats. However, developing highly specific DNA ap...

To support graduate students (M.S. and Ph.D.), within one year of degree completion, whose education and training were disrupted due to recent termination or cancellation of research grants. Funding w...

Some obsolete lab equipment is quickly replaced, while other items are stubbornly persistent. What modern tech will survive to the 2060s?

We present example assessments featuring spectroscopic unknown puzzles, where the solution to the puzzle is the outcome of a known chemical reaction. These spectroscopic exercises engage students in a substantially more authentic manner than the conventional structure elucidation puzzles that are ubiquitous in organic chemistry instruction. Students use the same information available to practicing organic chemists, i.e., the chemicals added to the reaction vessel and information regarding the intended reaction outcome, to support their interpretation of GC-MS, IR, and NMR data. This centers the purpose of spectroscopy and spectrometry on understanding chemical phenomena, often chemical reactions, rather than on solving inauthentic unknown puzzles which are not connected to a chemical phenomenon. We anticipate that repeated use of spectroscopy and spectrometry in this manner will communicate to students why organic chemists highly value these techniques and how they are used to construct knowledge in organic chemistry.