Experimental Design and Optimization: Application to a Grignard Reaction
Naoual Bouzidi and Christel Gozzi
Laboratoire de Catalyse Organometallique de Surface (LCOMS), Ecole Supérieure de Chimie Physique Electronique de Lyon (CPE-Lyon), BP 2077, 69100 Villeurbanne cedex, France
This project is conducted by students during the second semester of their second year in our educational institution. This project constitutes an initiation into research and allows a broadening of knowledge, a development in autonomy, organization, team work, and initiative. It helps prepare the student-engineer for an internship in industry. The experiment is done in student pairs over 5 weeks (three, eight-hour days per week). We introduce experimental design to undergraduate students because such methodology is increasingly important in modern industrial research. The well-prepared chemist will need to apply these concepts easily. Other pedagogical goals include increasing experience in synthetic techniques, scientific rigor to obtain reproducibility in the yield, and using quantitative analysis methods. This project investigates optimizing the synthesis of benzyl-1-cyclopentan-1-ol using experimental design. It is carried out in three steps: first the factors that can have a potential influence on the reaction are screened; second, a factorial design is used to study the interactions between the factors; and finally, response surface methodology is used to optimize the yield.
Experiments, laboratory exercises, lecture demonstrations, and other descriptions of the use of chemicals, apparatus, instruments, computers, and computer interfaces are presented in the Journal of Chemical Education as illustrative of new or improved ideas or concepts in chemistry instruction and are directed at qualified teachers. Although every effort is made to assure and encourage safe practices and safe use of chemicals, the Journal of Chemical Education cannot assume responsibility for uses made of its published materials. Many chemicals are hazardous. Precautions for the safe use of hazardous chemicals and directions for their proper disposal are described in the Material Safety Data Sheets and on the labels. We strongly urge all those planning to use materials from our pages to make choices and to develop procedures for laboratory and classroom safety in accordance with local needs and situations.
Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.
Caution! 
