Catalysts are magic molecules that speed up chemical reactions. How do they work? And most importantly, how does it feel speeding up or enabling previously unattainable chemical reactions? The goal of this semilab is to offer hands-on experience with a few catalysts, including transition metal complexes and enzymes that revolutionized chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. We will learn about the structure and function of catalysts and use analytical instrumentation to measure the rates of catalyzed reactions.
Prerequisites: Fluency with Algebra is expected. Familiarity with General Chemistry helps but is not required.