Revisiting and Upscaling “The Preparation of a Fluorescent Dye: A Microscale Experiment”
Damir Medunjanin, Tjalling R. Canrinus, Roan Fraser, Niek N. H. M. Eisink · Journal of Chemical Education · 2025
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide A microscale synthesis of a naphthalimide fluorescent was redesigned, upscaled, and integrated into the syllabus of an undergraduate introductory organic chemistry laboratory course as an inquiry-based experiment teaching basic thin layer chromatography (TLC) techniques. The students’ goal is to monitor the reaction of 4-chloro-1,8-naphthalic anhydride with different primary amines using TLC, as part of a two-day project cycle, and students were required to submit a written report for summative assessment. Students generally encounter four fluorescent spots: two blue and two yellow. To evaluate the students’ overall experience in conducting this experiment over two consecutive academic years, they were asked to report on their confidence and excitement levels at both the beginning and end of the project cycle. The results showed that the majority of the students felt more confident and excited about the experiment after its completion, reporting an increase above 80% and 60% for both years, respectively.