Teaching Crystallography by Determining Small Molecule Structures and 3‑D Printing: An Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Module

Experimental methods for determining 3-D atomic structures, such as crystallography, are rarely taught in the undergraduate curriculum, yet are considered to be the norm for 3-D structure determination in a research setting. Although a fully physical understanding of crystallography takes years of p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical education 2020-08, Vol.97 (8), p.2273-2279
Main Authors: Brannon, Jacob P, Ramirez, Isaac, Williams, DaShawn, Barding, Gregory A, Liu, Yan, McCulloch, Kathryn M, Chandrasekaran, Perumalreddy, Stieber, S. Chantal E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3-D printers
Analytical chemistry
Chemistry
College Science
College Students
Computer Peripherals
Crystal structure
Crystallography
Curricula
Deep structure
Dichloroethane
Experimental methods
Feedback
Inorganic Chemistry
Instructional Effectiveness
Laboratory Training
Modules
Molecular Structure
Printing
Science Instruction
Students
Teaching methods
Three dimensional printing
Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate study
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Summary:Experimental methods for determining 3-D atomic structures, such as crystallography, are rarely taught in the undergraduate curriculum, yet are considered to be the norm for 3-D structure determination in a research setting. Although a fully physical understanding of crystallography takes years of practice, practical applications and basic interpretation of small-molecule crystallography can be readily integrated into undergraduate curricula to give students a research-like laboratory experience. Three 1-h crystallography laboratory modules were developed using the free Olex2 software to determine the structure of (dithiolene)2Co­(1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane)·dichloroethane, while introducing basic crystallography knowledge, crystal evaluation through microscopy, practical structure determination skills, and spatial awareness through 3-D printing. Following implementation in an advanced instrumental analysis class composed of 14 Master’s and undergraduate students, the increase of topical knowledge of small molecule crystallography was 18–30% based on tailored assessment surveys, and student feedback was highly positive. This suggests that students without a prior background in crystallography were able to learn and retain information about small molecule crystallography from these laboratory modules.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00206