The general aims of the module are:
•To give the student practical experience and understanding of advanced practical techniques in two areas from: organic, inorganic and physical chemistry .
•To develop appropriate techniques for each type of experiment
•To show the use of suitable characterisation techniques
•To make valid deductions from acquired data
•To familiarise the student with the preparation of written reports
•To establish a close link with aspects of the lecture material covered in the Yr2 and Yr3 course

(LO1) By the end of this module, students should be able to demonstrate advanced practical skills in two of the following areas: organic, inorganic and physical chemistry using spectroscopic techniques and chemical methods

(LO2) By the end of this module, students should be able to document advanced practical techniques by producing comprehensible and reasoned written reports

(LO3) By the end of this module, students should be able to deduce experimental outcomes from acquired data needed for understanding advanced practical and chemical knowledge

(LO4) By the end of this module, students should be able evaluate experimental work in terms of shortcomings, experimental errors and weaknesses and make recommendations for improvements

(LO5) By the end of this module, students should be able to evidence development of time management skills through coordination of synthetic and analytical components and project management and allowing students to develop methods that suit them.

(S1) organisational skills

(S2) problem solving skills

(S3) teamwork

Students choose two subjects and spend three weeks in each area.

Organic and Inorganic Chemistry: Students carry out three synthetic experiments and are required to produce a written laboratory report for each experiment, supplying the compounds they have made, produce full analytical and spectroscopic data and demonstrate mechanistic details of the chemistry involved. Each experiment is accompanied by a series of questions to which the student has to submit answers in their written report.

Physical Chemistry. Students carry out a project within a team of ca. 4 students. Each project has an overall goal and students are directed to specific literature sources on the Reading list for one example of how to reach the goal. Teams are free to choose detailed experimental approaches with regular feedback from demonstrators on experiments and results. At the end, one joint laboratory report is required to be submitted by the team after peer review and demonstrator feedback.

This module consists of TWO blocks of 4 x 2 day practical sessions in Organic, Inorganic or Physical Chemistry.
Students can choose a combination of any two from these three areas of Chemistry.

Organic Chemistry: Students carry out three organic experiments that give them experience of both flash chromatography and recrystallisation as purification techniques. The reaction products are analysed by NMR, IR and melting points.

Inorganic Chemistry. Students carry out three inorganic experiments in which they prepare and analyse compounds from the branches of organometallic and solid state chemistry. The background to these topics is taught in lecture modules CHEM214 and CHEM313.

Physical Chemistry: Students carry out a physical chemistry project in teams using a variety of spectroscopy- or electrochemistry-based techniques. The project serves as an introduction to subjects covered in semester 2 Physical Chemistry lectures and allows students to develop more so phisticated skills in data acquisition, analysis and fitting.