Course Overview
Welcome to the final and culminating experience in your formal chemistry laboratory instruction at MIT. This subject, 5.33, is intended to synthesize a number of concepts you have encountered in lecture subjects, introduce you to techniques and procedures not encountered in earlier laboratory subjects, and in addition stimulate you to think about the following ideas:
- Spectroscopy is more than group frequencies and chemical shifts. You will analyze a spectrum at high resolution to obtain structural information about a molecule, use intensity data to determine relative populations of species, relate line widths to lifetimes, perform ultrafast spectroscopic measurements in the time domain, and find out how optical properties of simple molecules are changing the world in which you live.
- Quantum mechanics is good for something. You will use computational chemistry to predict or verify quantities that you measure in the laboratory.
- Laboratory safety and proper waste disposal are necessary but not sufficient. In your laboratory work, you should always strive to reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, synthesis, use, and disposal of chemical substances.
Experiments
There are four experiments in 5.33. Completion of all experiments is required.
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Molecular Spectroscopy of Acetylene and Methane
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Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy & ESR spectroscopy
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Time-Resolved Electronic Spectroscopy
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Nitrogen Scission by Molybdenum (III) Xylidene Complex
Laboratory Partners
Students will carry out all experiments with two laboratory partners. The importance of having lab partners with whom you can work compatibly and communicate conveniently cannot be overemphasized.
Working Hours
On average you should expect to spend the equivalent of three full afternoons a week in the lab. In some experiments more than this amount of time will be needed, and less in others. In some experiments, it may be possible for parts of the analysis, calculations, and discussion to be done outside of the lab. Reading about the experiments in advance is absolutely essential in 5.33.