Writing papers in chemistry is very different from writing papers in English classes.  Here are some things to remember when writing science papers or lab reports.

General

Lab reports should follow the format of full papers published in American Chemical Society journals.  They should be written at a level comprehensible to students taking your chemistry course who have not performed the experiment before.  In other words, you have to explain the experiment fully, but you can assume knowledge of basic concepts.  Chemical structures should be drawn using the Isis Draw program that is available on the lab computers in Hoffberger. 

Lab reports should consist of the following sections:

Abstract

Introduction

Results and Discussion (can be lumped together or can be separate sections)

Experimental

References

What belongs in each section

Abstract - should be very short.  No introductory statements, no fluff.  Simply what experiments were carried out, and what results were obtained.  For the labs in this course, this consists of what compounds were made in what yields, and what methods were used to characterize those compounds.   Someone should be able to know what you did just from reading your abstract. 

Introduction - puts the experiment in context.  In your own words, describe the underlying principles and background chemistry upon which the experiment is based.  Why are the compounds that you prepared important?  How did they advance our understanding of inorganic or organometallic chemistry?  In this section, you should provide your understanding of the original papers on which the experiment is based.   Do not include any of your results in the introduction.

Results and Discussion – gives a narrative of the experiment without going into the detailed procedure.  Draw out all reactions as either equations or schemes depending on how many reactions you need to describe.  Always use the full chemical name the first time you refer to a compound, although you are encouraged to assign compound numbers to each compound that you prepare, so that you don’t have to keep reusing the full names.  Compound numbers are always bold Arabic numbers (i.e., 1 not I) that you put in parentheses after the first time you use a chemical name.  Compound numbers should also be placed below the matching compound in equations or schemes.

You should explain the role of each major step of the procedure and the theory behind your purification technique: what by-products are formed during each reaction and how each one is removed.  Include copies of all of your spectra as figures.  Number your figures, tables, equations, and schemes separately and in the order that you discuss them in the text.  Figures need a caption; tables and schemes do not.  Number your equations with an Arabic number in parentheses on the right side of the equation. 

Your results section is where you report all of the findings of your experiment, specifically product yields, and where you interpret your spectra.  You need to convince the reader that you actually made the compound(s) that you claim to have made.  Any data obtained regarding the physical properties or stereochemistry of products should go here, along with an interpretation.

Discuss the results obtained in light of the mechanism of the reaction or the theory being tested.  Here is where you address any questions brought up in the lab handout, but your responses to the questions should be integrated into a coherent narrative, rather than numbered individually.  The questions included in each lab handout are guides as to what should be included in a discussion for that experiment.  Describe any unexpected observations or problems encountered during the experiment.  The last sentence or paragraph of your discussion should be a conclusion - restate the results of your experiment and their importance.

Experimental section - should contain procedures for all aspects of your project in enough detail that someone else can reproduce your experimental work.  Pattern this section after actual experimental sections reported in the literature.  Write the experimental in the passive voice and in the past tense.  You are welcome to adapt the procedures written in your original lab handout, but they must be in the proper tense and format.

The experimental section should begin with general procedures.  Typically, one would include the source of all chemicals, the make and model of all instruments, and the operating frequency of the NMR.  If any solvents or reagents were purified prior to use, the purification procedure should be included here. 

Each compound that you prepare should have a separate paragraph beginning with the name of the compound in bold, and any compound number that has been assigned to it in the main body of your paper.  Then describe in detail every physical manipulation that you carried out.  Be sure to include amounts of all reagents in both mg and mmol, volume of solvents, reaction times and temperatures, and workup procedures.  If column chromatography is used for purification, be sure to include the dimensions of the column (silica gel only), the solvent composition, and approximate R_f of the desired compound on TLC. 

You must report physical data for each compound prepared following the format of published procedures.  If you are following a literature procedure exactly (not the lab handout) simply state that you followed a procedure AND REFERENCE IT.  Any deviations from a published procedure should be indicated here.

References  - includes all sources of procedures, theory, background, literature values, equations, and significance.  In-text citations should be superscripted Arabic numbers.  The references themselves should follow the format of American Chemical Society journals.  For journal articles, it should be Authors, Journal, Year, Volume, Page numbers. 

Acknowledgments:

Dr. George Greco

Contact George Greco c/o:

Goucher College

Hoffberger Hall – Department of Chemistry

1021 Dulaney Valley Road

Baltimore, MD 21204