2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Materials and Chemical Technology Undergraduate major in Chemical Science and Engineering

Chemical Science and Engineering LaboratoryⅠ

Academic unit or major: Undergraduate major in Chemical Science and Engineering
Instructor(s): Ken Nakajima / Saiko Aoki / Toshiki Sawada / Shinji Ando / Xiaobin Liang / Shigekazu Ito / Yumiko Nakajima / Yusuke Shimoyama / Kazuko Nakazono / Kohei Yoshimatsu / Ryosuke Takehara / Masataka Yoshida / Yuuki Hata / Chihiro Homma / Naruki Kurokawa / Hiroto Okuyama / Haonan Liu / Kyohei Hisano / Tomoya Fukui / Hiroto Fujisaki / Yasuhiko Orita / Akimitsu Miyaji
Class Format: Experiment (Face-to-face)
Media-enhanced courses: -
Day of week/Period (Classrooms): 5-8 Thu / 5-8 Fri
Class: -
Course Code: CAP.F205
Number of credits: 004
Course offered: 2025
Offered quarter: 1-2Q
Syllabus updated: Mar 25, 2025
Language: Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

[Description of the course]
In this course, the basic knowledge and techniques they need to acquire to conduct chemical experiments will be instructed for the sophomore students in the Department of Chemical Science and Engineering through lectures and practical training. To learn the basic experimental operations and concepts in physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic synthesis, and polymer synthesis, the following five themes in these fields are set: (1) “Basics of spectroscopy” for learning the principles and interpretation of representative spectroscopies, and (2) “Polymer synthesis by polycondensation” for learning reaction and characterization of polyamic acid and synthesis of Nylon-6,10, and synthesis of polypyrrole, and synthesis, characterization, and thermal stability measurement and conductivity of polymers, (3) “Phase separation” for learning the phase separation phenomena of various solutions and phase diagram, (4) “Chemistry of organic halides: nucleophilic substitution reaction and radical reaction” for learning the basic organic synthesis and characterization method of organic compounds, (5) “Thermodynamical treatment of solutions” for learning liquid-solid equilibrium and cryoscopy. The lecture also covers how to write experimental reports.

[Aim of the course] To understand and acquire the basic concepts of chemistry, it is essential to perform experiments actually and to deeply consider the results. In this course, after acquiring the basic operations and knowledge for basic chemistry experiments, students work on five themes to acquire practical skills in synthesis, measurement, data analysis, compound characterization, discussion of experimental results, and report writing.

Course description and aims

At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) apply basic fundamental tasks according to the experimental objectives of each theme.
2) complete a general style of the experimental report including results, discussions, and survey details.
3) explain the basic concepts and measurement principles related to each theme and their applications.
4) acquire systematic knowledge from experiments and develop a plan for a safe and productive chemical experiment.

Keywords

(Basics of chemistry experiments) Writing laboratory notebook and report, Chemical safety, Handling chemicals, Basic operations of chemical experiments, Handling experimental data
(1. Basics of spectroscopy) Spectroscopic methods, Oscillation and rotational spectra, Infrared spectra, Atomic spectra, Emission spectra
(2. Polymer synthesis by polycondensation) Cycloaddition polymerization, Interfacial polycondensation, Electropolymerization, Conductive polymer, Super engineering plastic
(3. Phase separation ) Phase rule and phase diagram, Phase separation, Phase diagram
(4. Chemistry of organic halides: nucleophilic substitution reaction and radical reaction) Alkyl halides, Nucleophilic substitution reactions, Radical reactions, Chromatography
(5. Thermodynamical treatment of solutions) Liquid-solid equilibria, Freezing point measurement

Competencies

Specialist skills
Intercultural skills
Communication skills
Critical thinking skills
Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

In this course, the first guidance lecture will provide an overview of the experiments, followed by a lecture on experimental safety, experimental preparation, and how to write reports. After that, students will be divided into groups to learn basic operations and skills through the "Basic Knowledge of Chemical Experiments" and work in turn on five experimental themes: (1-1. Basic Spectroscopy, 1-2. Polymer Synthesis by Polycondensation, 1-3. Phase Separation, 1-4. Chemistry of Organohalides: Nucleophilic Substitution and Radical Reactions, 1-5. Thermodynamic treatment of solutions). In the final class, students will do exercises and explanations to check their understanding of the course.

Course schedule/Objectives

	Course schedule	Objectives
Class 1	Guidance of experimental outline	Explain preparation for this laboratory course, precautions for taking the course, and an overview of the topics to be covered.
Class 2	Fundamentals of chemical experiments I. Chemical safety education	Understand the basics of conducting chemical experiments and be able to conduct experiments safely.
Class 3	Fundamentals of chemical experiments II. Basics of analytical experiments	Acquire the accuracy of volumetric glassware and correctly perform solution preparation for the objective.
Class 4	Fundamentals of chemical experiments III. Separation and purification operation	Properly perform experimental operations to isolate and purify a specific compound from a mixture of multiple compounds.
Class 5	Fundamentals of chemical experiments IV. Basic operations of chemical reactions	Accurate in weighing substances using a precision balance. Understand and correctly perform the meaning of experimental operations in experiments involving reactions.
Class 6	1-1.Basics of spectroscopy I. Oscillation and rotational spectra of diatomic molecules	Explain the relationship between a vibration-rotation spectrum of a diatomic molecule and its molecular structure.
Class 7	1-1.Basics of spectroscopy II. Measurements of infrared spectroscopy	Measure vibration-rotation spectra of hydrogen halogenide and carbon oxide with infrared spectrophotometer and calculate their band distances and force constants.
Class 8	1-1.Basics of spectroscopy III. Atomic spectroscopy of hydrogen	Explain the relationship between an emission spectrum of hydrogen and its quantum state.
Class 9	1-1.Basics of spectroscopy IV. Emission spectroscopy of hydrogen	Determine the quantum state of hydrogen by measuring the emission spectrum of hydrogen with a hydrogen-discharge lamp.
Class 10	1-2.Polymer synthesis by polycondensation I. Synthesis of polyamic acid	Learn operations of polycondensation.
Class 11	1-2.Polymer synthesis by polycondensation II. Characterization of polyamic acid and synthesis of Nylon-6,10	Learn skills for characterization of polymers by FT-IR measurement. Learn operations of interfacial polycondensation.
Class 12	1-2.Polymer synthesis by polycondensation III. Synthesis, characterization, and thermal stability measurement of poly(pyromellitic diimide)	Learn methods for polycondensation and thermal stability measurement of polymers.
Class 13	1-2.Polymer synthesis by polycondensation IV. Synthesis and characterization of polypyrrole by electropolymerization	Learn the electrolytic polymerization method and the measurement of conductivity of polymer films and their characterization by FT-IR.
Class 14	Guidance on correction of experimental reports	In the experiment report, describe all the necessary items without any deficiency, and explain and discuss the results of the experiment using your own words.
Class 15	1-3.Phase separation I. Gibbs' phase rule and phase diagram	Explain the Gibbs phase rule and phase diagrams, especially, that of liquid-liquid binary system.
Class 16	1-3.Phase separation II. Measurement of phase separation of trgiehylamine/water system	Evaluate the phase separation of triethylaine-water binary system.
Class 17	1-3.Phase separation III. Properties of polymer solution and phase equilibria	Explain the properties of polymer solution and phase equilibrium, especially, that in the polymer-water system.
Class 18	1-3.Phase separation IV. Measurement of phase separation of polymer solutions	Evaluate the phase separation of the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-water binary system.
Class 19	1-4.Chemistry of organic halides: nucleophilic substitution reaction and radical reaction I. Bromination of butyl alcohol, reaction	Learn skills for halogenations of alcohols and steam distillation.
Class 20	1-4.Chemistry of organic halides: nucleophilic substitution reaction and radical reaction II. Halogenation reaction, purification	Learn skills for distillation of an organic halide and analysis by gas chromatography
Class 21	1-4.Chemistry of organic halides: nucleophilic substitution reaction and radical reaction III. Radical chlorination of 1-chlorobutane	Learn radical chlorination reactions of alkanes and skills for the extraction of organic compounds.
Class 22	1-4.Chemistry of organic halides: nucleophilic substitution reaction and radical reaction IV. Analysis of radical chlorination product	Characterize raw product of chlorination of alkanes by gas chromatography and explain the products based on the reaction mechanism.
Class 23	1-5.Themodynamical treatment of solutions I. Theory of liquid-solid equilibria	Understand the theory of solid-liquid equilibrium using the thermodynamic relationship.
Class 24	1-5.Themodynamical treatment of solutions II. Measurements of freezing point of a pure solvent (cyclo-hexane)	Explain the principle and procedure of the measurement of freezing point for pure solvents.
Class 25	1-5.Themodynamical treatment of solutions III. Analysis of experimental data of freezing points	Determine freezing points for pure solvents and mixture systems by cooling curve data.
Class 26	1-5.Themodynamical treatment of solutions IV. Prediction of molecular mass of unknown samples by freezing-point depression	Estimate unknown solute in solution from the experimental data of freezing point.
Class 27	Exercise problems to assess the students’ level of understanding and interpretation of the answers.	Use the exercise problems to better understand the topics covered, and evaluate one’s own progress.

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 50 minutes preparing for class and another 50 minutes reviewing class content afterward (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

Textbook for the Chemical Science and Engineering Laboratory I (in Japanese), edited by the committee for the Chemical Science and Engineering Laboratory (Institute of Science Tokyo, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Department of Chemical Science and Engineering). This textbook should be purchased at the co-op before the guidance.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

To safely perform the experiments (continued), -Basic Operations and Basic Measurements (In Japanese)", 4th Ed., edited by Kagakudojin (Kagakudojin Co., Ltd.), ISBN: 978-4-7598-1834-5

Evaluation methods and criteria

Full attendance and completion of all experiments (including submission of all reports and assignments) are required. Assessment is conducted based on the attitude during the experiment, the state of the preparation and study for the experiments, the submission status of reports, and the quality of the reports. Failure to maintain an acceptable level of class attendance, punctuality, and timely submission of required reports may result in the student's inability to earn academic credit for this class.

Related courses

CAP.H201 ： Physical Chemistry I (Thermodynamics)
CAP.H202 ： Physical Chemistry II (Chemical Equilibirum)
CAP.H205 ： Quantum Chemistry I (Quantum Mechanics)
CAP.O303 ： Instrumental Analysis (Advanced Organic Molecular Spectrum Analysis)
CAP.O202 ： Organic Chemistry II(C-X)
CAP.Y201 ： Polymer Chemistry Basics
CAP.Y202 ： Polymer Synthesis I (Step-Growth Polymerization)
CAP.F206 ： Chemical Science and Engineering LaboratoryⅡ

Prerequisites

Must be a student affiliated with the Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, or must be a student who fulfilled the course requirements specified by the Committee for Chemical Science and Engineering Laboratory. This course is also a "prerequisite" for Chemical Science and Engineering Laboratory III and Chemical Science and Engineering Laboratory IV.