Today was a busy but extremely successful days in many aspects. I started off the day searching literature and creating chemical structures on the computer while Dr. Van Horn was lecturing.
I ran my first successful TLC plate today. I used a 1:1 ratio of hexanes to ethyl acetate instead of a 6:1 ratio like in my first attempt. This seemed to be a perfect ratio because no starting material could be seen in the polymer product.
I also ran NMRs on the same starting material and polymer completely by myself! There wasn't even anyone else in the room. I was really excited; I think the NMR is my favorite thing I've used so far. The spectra could not have turned out any better! They showed a 100% conversion from monomer to polymer! 100%!!! Dr. Van Horn and I were astounded with excitement. This means we also found the perfect MARS settings for the polymerization. It was in the microwave for 2 hours at 110 degrees. These results were for the polymerization of caprolactone.
Hopefully these same techniques can be applied to my monomer tomorrow to create the polymer we have been after all month! I know my last day in Charleston sure will be an exciting one.
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