[ACS Symposium Series] Raman Spectroscopy in the Undergraduate Curriculum Volume 1305 || Connecting Organic and Physical Chemistry Students with Raman Spectroscopy

摘要： The profile of Raman spectroscopy may be elevated in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum by intentionally tying together students’ experiences in the organic and physical chemistry laboratories. In this way the valuable role Raman spectroscopy can play in structure elucidation is highlighted. The Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society includes the category of optical molecular spectroscopy (e.g., IR, UV-Vis, Raman, and fluorescence spectroscopies) as an option in the panel of instruments required for certification. To the authors’ knowledge there are no Raman spectroscopy experiments that build directly on the analysis of compounds synthesized by students in a prior course for the intended purpose of scaffolding the curriculum. This chapter highlights the roles Raman spectroscopy may play in the determination of molecular structure when used in conjunction with other, more common techniques. Indeed, direct comparison to infrared spectroscopy holds the potential to reinforce that technique and its applications while introducing the study of Raman spectra. A set of three reaction products from electrophilic aromatic substitution, Diels-Alder, and aldol condensation (this including site-specific deuteration) is explored. All of these reactions are currently part of the organic chemistry curriculum. By combining analyses performed in organic chemistry with new laboratories written for the physical chemistry laboratory the authors hope to impress upon undergraduates the value of Raman spectroscopy in a context that builds on their previous experiences with other molecular spectroscopy methods.