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An Esterification Kinetics Experiment That Relies on the Sense of Smell
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Abstract
This experiment involves an esterification synthesis to study reaction kinetics where students explore these topics utilizing the sense of smell rather than the traditional approach of using spectroscopic methods. Students study the effects of various factors including the concentration of the carboxylic acid and the amounts of the catalyst or alcohols added. The kinetics in relation to the molecular structure is studied by changing the chain lengths and branching of alcohols or the carboxylic acids and inferring the effects on rates of the reaction from the rates of ester detection. Since many esters have naturally occurring aromas that are pleasant and easily recognized, this experiment studies esterification kinetics using the sense of smell to detect the emergence of the ester aroma formed during the reaction. Feedback from students strongly suggests their interest in the experiment as they discovered that their sense of smell could be used as an analytical tool.
Keywords (Audience):
Second-Year UndergraduateKeywords (Domain):
Organic ChemistryKeywords (Pedagogy):
Hands-On Learning / ManipulativesKeywords (Subject):
EstersCiting Articles
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This article has been cited by 1 ACS Journal articles (1 most recent appear below).
Learning Organic Chemistry through a Study of Semiochemicals
Johannes Pernaa and Maija AkselaJournal of Chemical Education2011 88 (12), 1644-1647Learning Organic Chemistry through a Study of Semiochemicals
Johannes Pernaa and Maija AkselaJournal of Chemical Education2011 88 (12), 1644-1647The topics of nature, for example semiochemicals, are motivating topics, which can be used to teach organic chemistry at high school level. The history, classifications, a few important applications of semiochemicals, and an semiochemical that can be ...
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- Received: August 03, 2009
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