Asymmetric Epoxidation: A Twinned Laboratory and Molecular Modeling Experiment for Upper-Level Organic Chemistry Students

The coupling of a student experiment
involving the preparation
and use of a catalyst for the asymmetric epoxidation of an alkene
with computational simulations of various properties of the resulting
epoxide is set out in the form of a software toolbox from which students
select appropriate components. At the core of these are the computational
spectroscopic tools, whereby a measured spectrum can be interpreted
in some detail using theoretical simulations. These include a range
of modern chiroptical methods to accompany the increased use of such
techniques in modern teaching laboratories. Computational experiments
are captured in a Wiki-based electronic laboratory notebook, which
features data-stamping, authenticated entries, and inclusion of semantically
intact data via interactive models rendered within the Wiki using
JSmol and its referencing via a digital object identifier (DOI) to
a digital data repository.