Bridging Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratories and Real-World Research with Modern Computing and Spectroscopic Techniques

Abstract

The Reimagining Organic Chemistry Laboratories in Education Systems (ROLES) initiative at Spelman College was established to provide undergraduate students with synthetic, analytical, computing, and critical-thinking skills necessary for training innovators and problem solvers for future STEM careers. Embedded in the second-semester organic chemistry laboratory, the initiative revamps the course to take on a research-based structure that incorporates purposeful laboratory activities that illustrate the alignment of chemical concepts introduced in teaching laboratories with techniques utilized in the chemical workforce. The ROLES research-based instruction features student-relatable modules of drug discovery, polymer-cosmetic chemistry, and polymer-material science all with real-world applications. Each module is accompanied by computational approaches including machine learning in Artificial Intelligence (AI), electronic Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, and docking molecular-modeling studies. The laboratories also utilize instrumentation including NMR, FTIR, GC, and MS spectroscopies. In all, the ROLES initiative provides a transformative blueprint through the chemistry curriculum to actively engage students and deliver connections between chemical theory and everyday life. The intent of this perspective is to describe how real-life applications and the use of modern technology, and instrumentation can be folded into an introductory chemistry lab. This perspective will focus on the logistics of the new curriculum, computational methodologies used, and how spectral analysis is applied throughout the program.