DSU Organic Chemistry students get real-world challenge

DSU senior Luke Schnell checks his project

Dakota State University Organic Chemistry students are receiving real-world experience in the classroom.

Dr. Richard Bleil, associate professor of Natural Sciences at DSU, has given his Organic Chemistry II students a challenge from a pharmaceutical company called InnoCentive (http://www.innocentive.com/).

InnoCentive posted a series of organic chemistry challenges on the web. Bleil says the challenges fit well into what he wanted to accomplish in the Organic Chemistry II class.

“Ultimately, the goal in Organic Chemistry II at DSU is to give students a real-world experience and introduce them to organic chemistry as it is approached professionally,” said Bleil. “The goals are for students to learn the basics of organic chemistry, how to learn independently, and to learn that they can figure organic chemistry out with little additional input from faculty.”

The project for the students is to figure out an efficient means for manufacturing one of a series of chemicals or pharmaceuticals.

“InnoCentive is a pharmaceutical company with a series of target compounds, which they want to market, so they've placed them on-line and offer awards of up to $100,000,” Bleil said. “I do not believe that we will actually collect on these rewards. However, it provides a useful tool by which students can choose their own challenges. And they know that these are real-time, legitimate problems that professional chemists are working on, as opposed to a contrived experiment by the professor.”

Jess Haensel, a senior Biology for Information Systems major from Humboldt, is the furthest along in the project.

“Currently, I am working on synthesizing a pharmaceutical drug,” said Haensel. “I am over half done with my synthesis. Due to time constraints, it is difficult to run the procedures exactly how I would like. I would be thrilled to actually get the product described by InnoCentive, but I will not know until I am finished and run some tests.”

Once the students have chosen their project, they have to determine the procedure they want to try to produce it. This involves independent research using the same professional journals and resources a chemist would use.

Luke Schnell, a senior Biology for Information Systems major from Elizabeth, CO, chose a chemical called 4-Nitroacetophenenone, a component of perfumes that has an orange blossom-like odor.

“I have been working in the lab for almost a month and am about one week from completion,” said Schnell. “I hope to obtain 1 gram of my product within the next week. My main goal for the project is to obtain the correct compound or something very close during that analysis stage.”

Molly Hathaway, a junior Biology for Information Systems major from Miles City, MT, found researching the project is easier than performing the procedure.

“The process of finding a procedure to make the compound came a little easier to me because I was able to find good resources and information,” Hathaway said. “The process of synthesizing the compound itself is a little more time consuming. I have been in the lab for quite awhile, and I just finished the second step of three I have to complete.”

Once their procedure is complete, and approved by Bleil, the students spend time in the lab actually performing their own procedure. They are responsible for producing, isolating and purifying their product, which may or may not be their target compound.

“By working on the project I have learned that it was a good thing I got started when I did. Chemistry is very time consuming in all of its aspects,” Hathaway said. “My goal with the project is first to complete the procedure itself. After that I will analyze my final product to see if the results were a hit. If it is not the product I wanted, the key will be finding what I do have.”

The last step is a series of tests to determine what it is they have produced. Students are not graded on producing their target compound, but are responsible for finding out what they did make.

Planning is an important part of the process. Students have learned that plans do not always go as they were intended.

“Planning out of the lab is just as important as the time actually doing the experiment,” Schnell said. “I also have learned that plans do not always go as they are supposed to when working with a new procedure.”

“My hopes, by the time students complete this semester, is that they leave with a feeling of accomplishment, enhanced self-confidence, and are able to learn fairly involved chemical concepts on their own,” Bleil said.

“Chemistry is a gamble, you never know what you may come up with. That’s what makes it fun,” Schnell said. “This has been an interesting project, which has taught me a lot about the real world of chemistry.”

Other students in the class are: seniors Chad Kurtenbach of Toronto, SD and Justin Thielke of Halloway, MN; juniors Andrew Ohotto of St. Louis Park, MN, Abbie Reuter of Madison and Molly Hansen of Irene.