Yesterday was probably the best day I've had so far at College of Charleston. I feel like I really got a lot accomplished while learning a lot at the same time!
I ran my first polymerization today of caprolactone in the MARS (microwave accelerated reaction system). I set up the reaction by mixing caprolactone and benzyl alcohol in a 100:1 ratio and then adding .5 equivalent of Sn(Oct)2 and 5 mL of toluene. Then, the solution was simply placed in the MARS for 30 minutes and 110 degrees Celsius. The solution was removed and a sample was taken and placed under vacuum to remove the toluene. I then ran that sample on the NMR to calculate the percent conversion on monomer into polymer (I ran the NMR all by myself! I was really excited!). This process was repeated after 60 minutes and 90 minutes. As expected, more polymer was created from monomer the longer it was left in the microwave. After 90 minutes, there was almost a 50% conversion!
After this, I finally got to start to work with the chemical we've been waiting for to arrive! I started the Baeyer Villager oxidation of 2-methylcyclohexanone. In basically the same steps as my first Baeyer Villager oxidation, I massed out 2-methylcyclohexanone and mCPBA. The 2-methylcyclohexanone was mixed with dichloromethane and the mCPBA was added scoop wise to the solution. One major difference I noticed was that the solution did not get frothy at all when the mCPBA was added (very different than the first time). This makes me think we may get different results, but that's what we're looking for in this research project!
Today I am going to continue the oxidation, so we'll see how things go!
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