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Thomas J. Russo*
Theta Technologies, Southgate, KY 41071 Mark Meszaros*
Flinn Scientific, Batavia, IL 60510
The study of organic chemistry has been relegated, for the most part, to college laboratories. The cost of ground-glass joints and other specialized glassware makes organic chemistry too costly for high school. The need for large blocks of time for traditional organic laboratories and the use of volatile and toxic starting materials also discourages incorporating organic chemistry into most high school chemistry curricula. Advanced Placement Chemistry curriculum covers organic chemistry nomenclature (1) and a rudimentary treatment of some simple organic reactions, and the ACS ChemCom program does an admirable job of showing the importance of organic compounds in the community; but little attention is given to the laboratory or mechanistic study of this branch of chemistry.
Because organic chemistry is exciting and is a foundation for biochemistry, health sciences, petroleum-based industries, textiles, and many other important disciplines and fields, high school students would benefit from learning more about it. The challenge is to develop an organic chemistry laboratory curriculum and procedures that are affordable for high schools, safe to perform in a typical high school laboratory, and fit within a traditional 40- to 50-minute class period.
The following laboratory activity is an example of a new organic chemistry procedure designed especially for the high school chemistry curriculum. It is called Vial Organic because most of the activities are performed in low-cost, sealed vials. When heat is...