Pruning the Chemical Requirements in the Detection of Functional Groups in Organic Compounds and Ions in Inorganic Salts: A Greener Outlook

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 100; no. 12; pp. 4786 - 4790
• Main Authors: Genwa, Mahaveer, Singh, Jyoti, Manohar, Sunny, Angrish, Chetna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 12.12.2023; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Chemical pollution; Chemicals; Functional groups; Inorganic salts; Ions; Laboratories; Laboratory Experiments; Organic chemicals; Organic chemistry; Organic compounds; Pedagogy; Pruning; Science Curriculum; Students; Tubes; Pedagogical model; Green chemistry; Organic functional group analysis; Undergraduate education/research; Inorganic ions detection; Laboratory instructions; Pruning of chemical waste
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00603

The analysis of functional groups in organic compounds and inorganic ions in salts is a laboratory experiment that forms an inevitable part of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum in the science field all over the world. With this experiment, the student learns the testing techniques for the chemicals and gets a true sense of the importance of the subject. Conventionally, this testing is carried out in test tubes, and after the observation, the chemicals used are discarded in the sink. This practice is one of the major reasons behind chemical pollution caused in the environment. It is high time that young students should be made aware of this fact. A short experiment based on this fact has been carried out so that the younger generation comprehends this issue and acts accordingly to the needs of the time. For this reason, the same experiment is put in a greener framework. With this experiment, students are also made to learn the life lesson“howsoever big a problem (chemical pollution) is, we should confront it by finding the solution (pruning the chemical requirement) and contribute to it (by adopting a greener outlook)”. A pedagogical model is also formed for the same in the present work.