Training Undergraduate Research Students in Cluster Synthesis and Crystallization Techniques for Single-Crystal X-ray Diffraction

Abstract

The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) has participated in a program called “Summer Bridge” that brings STEM students that have just graduated from high school to UCO’s campus to do research for the summer before their first year of college. These students have little chemistry experience, yet are expected to participate in research projects on campus. We have recently developed a useful system for training these students in crystallization techniques along with the accompanying chemistry skills needed for routine inorganic cluster synthesis. This training utilized skills like using a micropipette, using molar ratios, making solutions, and using a microscope. The calculations needed for this research are especially common in numerous areas of chemistry and provide a valuable starting point for training research students with little previous chemistry experience. We will review the system that we are using for the training of undergraduate research students for techniques in co-crystallization, cluster synthesis, and numerous other laboratory techniques commonly utilized in aqueous inorganic chemistry.