Darby Holman
University of Cincinnati
HONORS OCHEM LAB
This semester I was chosen, along with 7 other students, to be apart of the honors organic chemistry lab section. Through this experience, I got to work on a chemistry research project & collaborate with my fellow students & professors in the chemistry department. I am very honored to have been chosen to participate in this experience & throughout the semester I gained a more in depth look at lab techniques & was able to practice critical thinking through the development of my own experimental conditions.
WHAT?
SO WHAT?
As stated above, this honors lab was me & 7 other students, helping with a research project with faculty members from the chemistry department. The project's aim is to convert CO2 into a cyclic carbonate compound. The 8 of us were split into groups of two & each group looked at different experimental conditions to increase our product yield. These conditions include changing the catalyst, the reaction time, the amount of CO2, and the starting material. We would devise our own experiment, run the reaction for a week, take the necessary data and then collaborate in group meetings together. Although our projects were cut short, we were able to put our findings into a final lab report which can be found on this page.
As you can read about in our lab report, the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 is an extremely important way to reduce the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere, & therefore reduce the effects of global warming. Our projects were beginning to produce high product yields, which is very exciting to the development of the experiment. Also, throughout this, I was able to develop better laboratory and critical thinking skills. On a more personal note, being chosen to participate in this lab was very exciting & it allowed me to connect with students whom I would have not met otherwise. I made great relationships with the faculty as well and feel even more connected at UC. I also am very grateful for Dr. Lieberman's cookies, which always brightened my day :)
NOW WHAT?
Over the academic year I discovered that I (somehow) have a love for organic chemistry!! Being chosen to participate in this lab just reinforced this for me & showed me the importance of organic chemistry & the real world applications it has. I was chosen by the Chemistry Department to receive the "Highest Achievement in Organic Chemistry" Award, which is by far the highlight of my college career so far :) I was also chosen to be a Supplemental Instructor for CHEM2041 (OChem 2) next fall. I am really excited to help other students with chemistry & to keep learning about it myself. I hope that by leading SI I can instill a passion for OChem in others!
