Overview
This is a foundational lab covering the practical techniques you'll use throughout your organic chemistry course. Unlike the functional-group labs (which teach what reactions do), this lab teaches how to do them — how to determine purity by melting point, identify a liquid by refractive index, recrystallize a crude product, calculate percent yield from a real synthesis, read an MSDS, and write up your work in a lab notebook in the ACS style.
The seven modules below are independent. You can complete one, several, or all of them in any order. Each takes 15–30 minutes. Modules are marked with a green check when finished.
"Perform simple syntheses isolating measurable quantities of a final product. Perform basic organic microscale operations using microscale glassware: melting point determination, boiling point determination, refractive index, recrystallization. Use Material Safety Data Sheets to obtain information for chemicals used in each experiment. Prepare and maintain a laboratory notebook. Write clear, concise scientific laboratory reports using American Chemical Society style. Use critical analysis skills to interpret data and draw conclusions."
Modules — Choose Your Practice
Click any card below to open the module. Use the «← Back to module list» button to return and pick another. Progress is tracked within this session.
General Guidance — What All Lab Work Has in Common
1. Always read the MSDS first
Before touching any chemical, read its Safety Data Sheet (SDS / MSDS). Note: hazard codes (H statements), required PPE, first-aid measures, disposal route. The Skills & Safety lab covered the GHS pictogram system; this lab's MSDS module gives you practice extracting working information from real SDS extracts.
2. Plan before you measure
Calculate your theoretical yield BEFORE starting the synthesis. Knowing the maximum possible mass tells you what scale glassware to use, how much purification solvent to prepare, and whether your final yield is reasonable. The synthesis module walks you through this.
3. Record everything in real time
The lab notebook is the legal record of your work. Every observation goes in immediately, in pen, dated, with no erasures. The notebook module gives you guided practice on what each section should contain.
4. Verify identity by multiple methods
A single melting point is suggestive. A melting point + boiling point + refractive index together is identification. A pure compound has a sharp mp range (1–2°C); an impure or wrongly-identified compound has a broad range. Use mixed-melting-point determination to confirm identity against an authentic standard.
5. Report numerically and qualitatively
An ACS-style lab report combines numbers (yields, mp, bp) and prose interpretation. The notebook module shows you how to write each section — introduction, procedure, results, discussion, conclusion.
6. Critical analysis: every result needs interpretation
Got a 47% yield? Why? Was the reaction incomplete? Did you lose material in transfer? Was the recrystallization too thorough? A yield value with no interpretation is half a result. The synthesis module flags this and asks you to interpret your own data.
References & Further Reading
| Topic | Reference |
|---|---|
| Lab notebook standards | Kanare, H. M. Writing the Laboratory Notebook, ACS, 1985 (still the standard reference). |
| ACS report style | Coghill, A. M.; Garson, L. R. The ACS Style Guide, 3rd ed., American Chemical Society / Oxford University Press, 2006. |
| Microscale techniques | Mayo, D. W.; Pike, R. M.; Forbes, D. C. Microscale Organic Laboratory, 6th ed., Wiley, 2013. |
| General organic technique | Pavia, D. L.; Lampman, G. M.; Kriz, G. S.; Engel, R. G. A Microscale Approach to Organic Laboratory Techniques, 6th ed., Cengage, 2018. |
| SDS / MSDS interpretation | OSHA Hazard Communication Standard 29 CFR 1910.1200; GHS (Globally Harmonized System) classification. |
| Refractive index reference values | CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 102nd ed., 2021. |