Abstract

A green organic laboratory experiment was developed in which students synthesize a sensor for thiols using a microscale, solventless Diels–Alder reaction at room temperature or 37 °C. The molecular probe is easily purified by column chromatography in a Pasteur pipet and characterized by thin-layer chromatography and NMR spectroscopy. The thiol-reactive sensor becomes intensely fluorescent upon exposure to thiols from N-acetylcysteine, bovine serum albumin, or human hair (pretreated with a reducing agent to reveal cysteine thiols in α-keratin). This fluorescence is observable even with micrograms of probe.

Abstract

A simple, easily visualized thin-layer chromatography (TLC) staining experiment is presented that highlights the difference in reactivity between aromatic double bonds and nonaromatic double bonds. Although the stability of aromatic systems is a major theme in organic chemistry, the concept is rarely reinforced “visually” in the undergraduate curriculum. With the use of a TLC plate to immobilize a range of unsaturated hydrocarbons, their UV fluorescence properties and their susceptibility to oxidation, using a permanganate stain, can be easily and rapidly visualized in a classroom setting.