CH2PR1: Chemistry Practicals 2

Module code: CH2PR1

Module provider: Chemistry; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 40

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Dr Michael Piperakis, email: m.m.piperakis@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr James Hallett, email: j.e.hallett@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE CH1PR1 OR TAKE CH1PRA OR TAKE CH1PRAX (Compulsory)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 2 October 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The aim of the module is to apply and further develop the skills and knowledge acquired during the Part 1 practical module (CH1PR1). The featured practicals will help consolidate key principles covered in the accompanying second year taught modules. You will learn new experimental techniques, including the theory underpinning the exciting state-of-the art analytical instrumentation offered by the Chemical Analysis Facility in the Department of Chemistry. You will also develop your science writing and communication skills (literature searching, report writing, delivery of presentations, etc.).

Overall, the Part 2 practical course is the perfect preparation exercise for the fully independent open-ended research project that you will undertake in your final year, when imperfect “real-life” data must be interpreted and used to generate new knowledge.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Assess the risks involved in an experiment and carry out a detailed COSHH/risk assessment
2. Carry out advanced laboratory procedures safely and correctly in order to produce pure products
3. Make accurate observations and measurements and record them clearly; analyse experimental data and draw both qualitative and quantitative conclusions from datasets
4. Interpret spectra to deduce chemical structure
5. Measure, analyse, interpret and understand the limitations of experimental data to determine physical properties of molecules and to test simple theoretical models
6. Recognise aspects of sample preparation and instrument operation for a range of analytical instrumentation and interpret the results obtained
7. Prepare and present a coherent and literate account of an extended session of laboratory work in an appropriate style

Module content

Laboratory based practicals:

Students will complete a range of experiments that span the breadth of organic, inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry (as appropriate to their courses). Experiments are designed to link with the lecture courses in Part 2, provide training in key practical techniques and give insight into real-life applications. Experiments will involve a combination of advance preparation, completion of COSHH/risk assessments, practical work, data analysis and presentation of findings.

Students will become familiar with using and citing relevant chemical literature and will develop written communication skills, in preparation for completing the major project report in the final year, through relevant training.

Taught content in analytical chemistry:

Students will be introduced to analytical methods such as sample preparation, quantitative and qualitative analysis, precision and accuracy and standard deviation. The theory behind the following analytical techniques will then be discussed in detail with further discussion relating to instrumentation design and function as well as the application of this theory in interpreting relevant spectra: UV (ultraviolet), IR (infrared) and AAS (atomic absorption) Spectroscopy, Chromatographic techniques and Mass Spectrometry, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) Spectroscopy.

Students will cover the following topics & analytical techniques:

• Introduction to Analytical Methods – choice of analytical methods, methods of sampling; qualitative and quantitative analysis; precision and accuracy, standard deviation.
• UV, IR and AAS Spectroscopy – design of the UV-visible spectrometer; quantitative analysis using UV-visible spectroscopy; the Beer-Lambert law; use of infrared spectroscopy for functional group analysis in organic and inorganic chemistry; introduction to concepts of symmetry using CO2 and SO2 as examples; introduction to use of isotopic substitution in infrared spectroscopy.
• Chromatographic Techniques and Mass Spectrometry (MS) – principles and applications of gas and liquid chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography; introduction to mass spectrometry; hard and soft ionisation techniques, molecular masses, mass analysers, detectors, fragmentation and basic MS data interpretation.
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy – theory and practice of NMR; spectrometer design for an NMR instrument; origins and interpretation of chemical shift and peak splitting in 1H NMR spectra (including second order effects and the magnitude of coupling constants); chemical shift in 13C NMR; interpretation of 1H NMR spectra from molecules of known and unknown structure; introduction to 2-dimensional methods; introduction to 19F NMR spectroscopy.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

There will be 20 individual practical sessions (each scheduled for 9 hours, once per week), supported by an academic and PhD student demonstrators.

These will be divided into four 5-week sections and will run across both semester 1 and 2:

• The first semester will include 5 practical sessions on organic and 5 sessions on analytical chemistry, while the second semester* will include 5 practical sessions on physical and 5 sessions on inorganic chemistry. 
• *During semester 2, the students on the BSc Pharmaceutical Chemistry course will mostly carry out bespoke experiments and will only perform a reduced number of physical and inorganic practicals.  
• Each five-week section will be introduced with a short lecture to outline that part of the course in the first week. Each five-week section will have one summative assessment point associated with it. Formative assessments will be included to aid preparation for the summative assessment.

The module will be supplemented by 17 hours of taught sessions on analytical chemistry which will be accompanied by corresponding seminar and revision classes. In addition, relevant skills training sessions will be scheduled. Most of these sessions will be delivered during the early stages of the first semester.

Study hours

At least 217 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve all of the following to pass this module:

1. A minimum attendance of 85% overall for the practical sessions. Students who do not meet this criterion will be required to attend catch-up practical sessions at the end of the semester.
2. An overall module mark of 40%. Students who do not meet this criterion will be required to attend a resit practical session and complete the associated reassessments during the summer resit period. Reassessment will focus on the specific elements in which they were unsuccessful in their initial attempts (including the analytical exam, if applicable).  

Please be aware that the catch-up practical sessions and the resit practical and assessment serve different purposes, follow different formats, and take place at different times.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Laboratory based practicals: students will complete one formative assessment per section (organic, analytical, physical and inorganic or pharmachem). Feedback will support students in preparing for the summative assessments.

Analytical taught sessions: students will receive feedback on their work during the scheduled seminars (workshops) and the revision sessions.

Reassessment

Additional costs