Chemistry Department

Poly Vinyl Alcohol and Borax a High

Viscosity Solution A.K.A
Outreach Team.

Chemistry Of Slime
Slime has properties of both solids and liquids. It can be torn like a
solid but can also mould to the shape of it’s container.
It can be made using Natural Slimes
Poly Vinyl alcohol (PVA) and
Borax. Borax slowly creates Slime occurs in nature and is also used synthetically. Snails and slugs are the
cross links between two PVA most commonly encountered slimy land based animal using slime to help
polymer chains using weak them move.
hydrogen bonds. This creates Fish are very slimy
a semi-rigid 3D lattice creatures, they use
structure. their slime to regulate
H3C CH3 body temperature and
HO OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH to act as a barrier
Borate ions fit perfectly with the against parasites and
hydroxyl groups on the polymer chains. HO OH Weak Hydrogen HO OH germs.
B
- Bonds B
-

This process traps water within the 3D HO OH HO OH

lattice structure. The water constantly
evaporates keeping the slime cool. HO OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH

Slime Viscosity H 3C C H3

The more Borax we add, the more cross links are formed between ‘Killing’ Slime
the polymer chains, this makes the slime more viscous. Because of
The bonds formed when slime
this, slime containing more Borax (4ml) barely moves in 10
is made are weak so when
minutes, whereas the slime containing the least Borax (1ml)
acid is added they are easily
reaches the bottom of the container.
broken. The Borate associates
with acid instead of the
Distance travelled by slime after 10 minutes
hydroxyl groups. The cross
links are destroyed and the
slime ‘killed’- becomes liquid.
Adding base to this liquid
neutralises the acid and
allows the Borate to re-
associate with the polymer
chains. The slime is revived!
This process can be repeated
1ml 2ml 3ml 4ml several times. Universal indicator was
added to the slime to
monitor changes in the pH.

Poster produced by Year 10 Work Experience students between July 6th – 10th 2009 Olivia Sweeney Waingels school Piotr Gorski Highdown School
My work experience week at Reading University chemistry department.
Chemistry Department
Harriet Wilkinson Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre, Reading 2008 Outreach Team.

During the work experience week in the chemistry department, I was responsible for the preparation of an iodine clock reaction. This was
going to be tested by a group of local A' level chemistry teachers as part of the departments chemistry demonstration evening on the
Wednesday evening - so no pressure there then !

I made four different solutions, each to a specific

concentration, by using my new found knowledge of what a
mole is. If I didn’t get the measurements correct, then the
experiment wouldn’t work. I used these solutions to prepare
five of the iodine clock reactions. These varied in size from
100 mL to 2 L The reaction systems had to be tested to
ensure that the time for the blue iodine colour to appear was
constant.
During the testing of this experiment, we found that the Preparing and testing the clock reaction Success - it works for the teachers
mixture of chemicals could not be prepared and left to stand,
as this effected the time it took for the solution to turn
blue/black.
Luckily, when the teachers performed their test, each solution
turned blue/black within seconds of each other.
This demonstration shows that it is the
concentration, and not the quantity of a substance
which is important in determining how long a
reaction will take.
Mixing chemicals was not all I did during this week, I also got the chance to visit the analytical equipment here at the University. I found this really
interesting and it amazed me that technology is so advanced and you can view things in such great detail. I had a great week at the University. I learnt lots
of new things and it was a really good work experience.

Some of the other interesting demonstrations prepared for the teachers.

Plus some spectacular
reactions:
Balloon torture-
holding a balloon The visualisation aluminium and iodine
over a candle of convection
currents in a potassium permanganate
flame and it
large 10L beaker and glycerol (note the lilac
doesn’t pop!
flame colour).
Aspirin synthesis for AS/A2 Level chemistry. Chemistry Department
Outreach Team.
Charlie Archer, The Oratory School, Reading, 2008

Aspirin is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world, so why not bring chemistry out of the text books, and synthesise aspirin in the
undergraduate chemistry laboratory at Reading University. Using familiar A' level chemistry, you will produce aspirin using an esterification reaction
with ethanoic anhydride. The starting material, for this synthesis, is 2-Hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid)., Salicylic acid is the naturally occurring
analgesic, that can be extracted from willow bark, but is very bitter and less effective than aspirin.
O
OH O H 3C
O H 3C O O
+ O
OH [H ]
cat
+ O
Reflux OH
+
O H3C OH

H 3C

2-hydroxybenzoic acid ethanoic anhydride 2-(acetyloxy)benzoic acid ethanoic acid

salicylic acid acetic anhydride aspirin acetic acid

The reaction Re-crystallisation Testing the product The pure aspirin

The aspirin is formed when you reflux
ethanoic anhydride, phosphoric acid,
and 2-hydroxybenzoic acid together for
15 minutes. Quenching the reaction
mixture with cold water forces the crude
aspirin out of solution. This crude aspirin
can then be isolated by filtration.
The crude aspirin obtained, is The purity of your aspirin sample
can then be assessed by using At the end, the
purified by re-crystallisation from
teacher may be
a minimum volume of hot both: thin layer chromatography
on their knees,
aqueous ethanol. The pure aspirin (TLC), with visualisation by U.V.
but they’re
crystals formed are separated and and determination of its melting
still smiling.
dried by vacuum filtration point.
What the students thought about the aspirin synthesis:

aspirin “Very interesting and fun to do”

“We used different types of equipment not available at school”
“It showed the usefulness of chemistry in real-life
2-(acetyloxy)benzoic acid situations”
 Extraction of the Essential Oil Limonene from Oranges.
Ahmed Saleh, Denefield school, Reading 2008
Steam Distillation of Orange Peel
Low molecular weight water
immiscible compounds can
be separated from natural
products by steam
distillation. In this case steam
distillation is used to isolate
the essential oil limonene
from the orange peel.
Limonene is concentrated in the peel of an
orange. The orange peel has two distinct layers,
the skin and the pith. Limonene Is not distributed
evenly between these two layers. Experimentation
has shown that only minimal quantities of
limonene can be extracted from the white pith.
This outer skin
accounts for two –
Pith thirds of the mass
Skin of the peel. The
best yields of
limonene are
Mass of Orange Peel obtained by using
only this outer skin.
The yield of limonene is about 1% using this
outer skin. This is a large yield compared to
other essential oil extractions, where yields
Heat
can range from 1-0.01 % by mass.
Essential oils can be steam distilled from flowers, leaves, fruits, barks and woods
Lavender Patchouli Bergamot
The Distillation
Initially an oily water / limonene mixture can be
seen condensing on the glassware at a
distillation temperature of 98 C. The
temperature will rise to 100oC as the distillate
composition approaches pure water.
Limonene’s structure
Orange peel cut into small pieces,
placed into 100 mL of water
Limonene can be
observed as an
oily suspension in
the final distillate
(80 mL).
Essential oils are
found in many
household products,
ranging from high end
cosmetics to basic
cleaning materials.
Cinnamon
Chemistry Department
Outreach Team.
Extraction of Limonene from the
Distillate
Limonene, an alkene, is
extracted into a low density
water immiscible solvent (ether).
The lower layer is the
remaining aqueous distillate
Evaporation of the Solvent
To finalise the
extraction, the ether
layer (b.pt. 37oC)
was evaporated on
a water bath to
leave the limonene
(b.pt. 176oC).
limonene (150mg)
obtained from 15 g
of orange peel skin.
The limonene has
an intense aroma of
oranges
 The Emmbrook
Looking into invisible Adam Young and Toby Parrott. Year 10 The Emmbrook 2009
Chemistry Department
Outreach Team.

Invisible inks have been used as a means of communicating secret messages for hundreds of years. These inks have been valuable for a wide range of uses, including
espionage, anti- counterfeiting, property marking, children’s games, within manufacturing and many more. There are many different methods available, and selecting the
right one is vital to the success of any secret communication.
The Chemical reveal
The heat reveal UV Visibility
Some methods use reactions between the ink and another chemical to
Throughout history secret messages often needed to be develop the message. 1. Due to the pH of some inks, indicators can be UV visualised inks are commonly used today,
revealed rapidly and without arousing suspicion. For this used to produce a colour change 2. The ink may simply react with especially for security purposes. When using these
reason Invisible inks would often need to be written and another chemical to give a coloured compound. Using an indicator, inks it is vital to take consider the paper used, as
revealed with easily obtainable materials. A variety of particularly Phenolphthalein, with Ammonia gives excellent invisibility many modern papers use optical brighteners,
household products were tested for their suitability as and is non-permanent when revealed, making it an ideal method. which fluoresce under UV light.
invisible inks and charring was used to reveal the messages.

Invisible Revealed

Tonic water

Persil detergent Milk

Modern uses of invisible inks include security markings

on bank notes, passports and driving licenses.

Red cabbage can be used as an

The chemicals in the ink burn indicator to reveal some acidic and
at a lower temperature than basic inks, however, ammonia, citric
the paper, however, this can acid and acetic acid proved
easily lead to the paper unsuccessful, with both the modern
burning so heating must be and chromatography paper.
gentle!
 Determining Vitamin C levels in fruit using iodine titrations. Chemistry Department
By Joshua Grant & Jacob Jolly Outreach Team.

Natural sources of vitamin C What is vitamin C ? Testing whole fruit

Vitamin C, also known as L- ascorbic acid, is
Plant source Amount A known mass of fruit
an essential nutrient to humans . The vitamin
(mg / 100g) was liquidised in a
protects the body from oxidative stress and
Kakadu plum 3100 measured volume of
Camu Camu 2800 prevents scurvy. Plants can make it
water.
Rose hip 2000 themselves as can some animals, but humans
The liquidised sample
Acerola 1600 do not have the right enzyme.
was filtered and the
Sea buckthorn 695
Jujube 500 filtrate titrated with
Indian gooseberry 445 iodine solution.
Baobab 400 Among the fruits tested
Blackcurrant 200 In our diet citrus fruits are a were apple, lime,
Red pepper 190 Grapefruit and
common source of Vitamin C
Parsley 130
Oranges.

Testing fruit juices Filtering the liquidised

mixture
Method
10 cm3 of each fruit juice was Fruit extract Vitamin C levels
pipetted into a conical flask per gram of fruit.
with 1 cm3 of starch indicator A titration 3.0
solution. Each mixture was Fruit juice Vitamin C levels 2.5
titrated with iodine solution. 25.00
2.0
Cranberry juice
Iodine reacts with Vitamin C. 20.00
1.5
Initially no colour change is
seen. When all the Vitamin C 15.00
1.0
has reacted adding more
iodine gives an excess and the 10.00 0.5
cranberry juice turned purple.
5.00 0.0
Tropical juice
Apple Lime Grape Orange
On titration with iodine the 0.00
tropical juice/ starch mixture Tropical Cranberry Tropicana Co-Op fruit
turned a dirty brown colour due Orange The results: For the whole fruits we tested
to the colour of the orange The results: Unbranded orange juice was Grape fruit showed the highest levels of
juice mixing with the blue/ found to have more vitamin C than the top vitamin C in it its extract.
black colour of the iodine. brand Tropicana orange.
 Schools Analyst Competition 2009 Chemistry Department
Outreach Team.

Standards
The Schools' Analyst Competition The second task was in

Irn-Bru
is a national competition run by the two stages. Initially the
Royal society of Chemistry’s teams used thin layer
Analytical Division, for first year sixth chromatography to identify
form students studying AS level the orange food colouring
Chemistry or equivalent. used in Irn-Bru. This was
achieved by comparison to a
x x
Reading University hosts a South given set of standard food
East regional heat for 16 teams of colourings.
three students. The winning team from
the regional heats being entered into Then applying Beer-Lambert’s Law they
the national final. The Reading heat determined the concentration of the orange food
consisted of two tasks. colouring in Irn-Bru using visible spectroscopy.
Comparing the value they obtained to the
manufacturer’s own stringent specification.
The first involved the determination
by titration of the distribution
coefficient (K) for ammonia between It
two immiscible solvents. X A = Log

Absorbance
X Io
X
Solvent a
X
[NH3]a Io It
K= [NH3]b
X
Source Detector

Solvent b X
Sample

Concentration

This years winners were:

Abingdon school
Abingdon
They will be representing the
Southeast region, in the national
final at The University of Plymouth.
 2009 Chemistry Department
Outreach Team.

Salters’ festivals of Chemistry promote the appreciation of chemistry to young students and give them the opportunity to spend a day in a university
department. These activities are followed by a fun lecture and prize giving ceremony. Prizes are awarded to the winning teams in each challenge.
This year at Reading University, 15 Schools competed against each other in two exciting practical chemistry challenges.

The SALTERS’ Challenge: The University’s Challenge:

Murder (?) at Saltmarsh Farm Cool it ! on the Enterprise

In this activity teams took on the role of forensic In order to prevent the dilithium crystals aboard
scientists, and used chemical techniques to analyse the starship Enterprise from being destroyed,
evidence collected from the scene of a grisly crime. the teams had to devise a chemical method to
Their task was to identify the prime suspects. cool the crystals to exactly 10.5oC in 1.5 minutes.

Accuracy and precision were key as pupils examined the evidence Close scrutiny of the university challenge was the order of the day

In the afternoon, teams were entertained with an exciting demonstration Members of this years’ winning teams in action.
lecture by Dr David Watson (Reading University). The lecture explored
Salters’ Challenge: University’s Challenge:
temperature and featured dry ice (solid CO2 -78oC) and liquid nitrogen
(-196oC) - not forgetting the balloons, bananas, Blu-Tac and ice cream !! Queen Anne’s school, Caversham The Abbey School, Reading

No shortage of volunteers – to taste Dr Watson’s Ice cream

Thanks to Parniyan Salar and Anne Romero, Reading Girls’ School 2009 work placement students for their help with this poster.
Preparation of a ferrofluid for AS/A2 students. Chemistry Department
Francesca Churchhouse, The Piggott School, 2008 Outreach Team.

Synthesis of nano-sized magnetite 2FeCl3 + FeCl2 + 8NH3 +4H2O Fe3O4 + 8NH4Cl

Iron (III) chloride Iron (II) chloride Magnetite

A ferrofluid is a stable colloidal suspension of magnetite nano-particles. These nano-particals (1 to 30 10 -9 m) become strongly polarised in the presence of a magnetic field. This
gives the ferrofluid the appearance of a ‘solid’, but they revert to their liquid state when the magnetic field is removed. NASA has exploited this technology to manipulate fluids in the
low gravity environments encountered in space.

Oleic acid (0.5ml) is As the oleic acid is

added to the magnetite adsorbed onto the
suspension and the surface of the nano-
mixture heated to 90 C. particles, the surface
becomes considerably
Green
Ferrous Chloride
Brown
Ferric Chloride
more hydrophobic.

Add the FeCl3 solution (2 ml 2 M, Slowly, over 5 An initial brown The ammonia is This causes the nano-particles to ‘precipitate out’
in 2 M HCl ) to the stirred FeCl2 minutes, add NH4OH precipitate turns black vapourised, and the oleic of the aqueous phase. Clear aqueous phase is
solution (1 ml 2 M, in 2 M HCl) at solution (13 ml 2 M) as the magnetite nano- acid binds to the surface visible when the nano-particles are attracted to a
room temperature. using a burette. particles are formed. of the nano-particles. magnet.

Stabilisation of magnetite nano-particles with a surfactant. Oleic acid Interaction of the ferrofluid with a
(Z)-octadec-9-enoic acid magnetic field.
Before the addition of Addition of oleic acid
the oleic acid the causes the nano-particles
Picture 1 - The decane Picture 3 - Shows a
synthesised to be stabilised by less
based ferrofluid is a low commercial ferrofluid in
magnetite nano- favourable interaction
viscosity liquid. the presence of a very
particles are
Decane
between the hydrocarbon
strong magnetic field, --
suspended in the tails of the surface bound These hydrocarbon tails Picture 2 –However, in the
Aq. impressive spikes form
aqueous phase but Magnetite oleic acid. enables the oleic acid presence of a magnetic field inline with the magnetic
are ‘insoluble’ in stabilised nano-particles the ferrofluid is constrained field.
decane. 10-30 nm Unfavourable to be readily extracted by and no longer free flowing.
hydrocarbon
Nano-particles
interactions organic solvents.
are susceptible
Agglomeration of these to agglomeration
nano-particles will occur 1 2 3
over time, if no
surfactant is added.
This will give
aggregates in the m
size range. These Decane

larger particles will not

water
act as a ferro fluid. 10-30 nm
Aggregate particle size >> 1.0 m
Justice is not always black and white.
Stephen Penney, Little Heath School and Jack Stanford, St. Crispin‘s school - work placement 2009
Chemistry Department
Outreach Team.

It was not until the early 1900’s that the United Kingdom Fingerprint Bureau was founded at Scotland Yard, where they pioneered the use of fingerprints in
criminal investigations. Since then, forensic scientists have worked continuously to develop the technology behind fingerprint visualisation.
Developing a latent fingerprint. Fingerprint powders come in ‘all’ colours.
Grease, oil and sweat from fingers are transferred Evidence found at the scene of a crime is not always white. Forensic scientists have developed
to the surface being touched. This leaves a latent a wide range of different coloured fingerprint powders. The powder is chosen to give the best
print, mirroring the ridge pattern present on the contrast between the print and the background. This contrast can be enhanced by irradiation of
finger. Latent prints can be barely visible. They are the fluorescent fingerprints with ultra-violet light.
made visible by dusting with very fine powders.
Fluorescent green Metallic Gold
on glass
Powder Adsorption
Mechanisms
Fluorescent green
under UV light

Held in place by
surface tension

Static charge attracts the

powder to the latent print.
Fluorescent
red

Oily deposit left behind on a non-porous surface

The powder binds to the oils and sweat of the latent finger
print, but not to the underlying surface. This makes the
unique ridge pattern of the fingerprint visible.

Types of fingerprint ridge pattern.

Fingerprint patterns can be categorised into 3 main types.
The most frequently encountered being Loops (60-70%).
Whorls account for 25% and are subdivided further into:
double loops, plain and central pockets. The final type,
Arches, are the rarest accounting for only 5%. Fluorescent red
under UV light Evidence comes in all shapes and colours, with a powder for each!

One powder two colours ?

These two prints have both been dusted
with the same bi-chromic powder. The
fingerprints appear dark on a light surface
Classic black on white and metallic on a dark surface.
Loop Whorl Double Loop Arch fingerprints. bi-chromic powder fingerprints
 Joseph Reed
The Piggott School
Synthesis of the Analgesic: Lidocaine Chemistry Department
Outreach Team.

Lidocaine is a common local anaesthetic used to relieve pain and itching, injected in dental surgery and used for minor operations. Lidocaine can be synthesised
from 2,6-dimethyl-nitrobenzene [1] in three consecutive reaction steps: The first is a reduction, converting the nitro group into an amine. The second converts
this amine to an amide. The final step involves the substitution (SN2) of a alkyl halide substituent by an amine to give the target compound lidocaine.

Step 1- Nitro Reduction O O- H H Step 2- Amide bond [3] formation

Step 1 Reduction - ‡
2,6-dimethylnitrobenzene [1] is
N+ N O O
reduced by stannous chloride, (i) SnCl2/HCl/CH3COOH
Sn(II)Cl2 in acidic conditions to (ii) KOH +
form the aniline hydrochloride R1 Cl H2N Cl
Base R1
salt. The initial product, 2,6- 70%
dimethylaniline [2] is liberated The amine group (NH2) R
as an oil, on treatment of this 2,6-dimethylnitrobenzene [1] 2,6-dimethylaniline [2] acts as a nucleophile,
salt with a base (pH 10-12). attacking the carbon of the O

Step 2 Amide Formation polarised carbonyl group in -

Cl
the acid chloride.
HN
The rotary evaporator CH3COOH (i) ClCH2COCl This gives a tetrahedral R1
70% (ii) CH3CO2Na intermediate which breaks R
down to form the new
amide [3] and release a
chloride ion.
Step 3 Substitution H
Lidocaine
(CH3CH2)2NH N The overall yield for the three
Cl stages was 17.9% crude and
ΔR Toluene 8.7% re-crystallised. The final
41% crude 21% pure O
Lidocaine [4] step gave the lowest yield.
This step requires further
2-(diethylamino)-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-acetamide Chloro-2,6-dimethylacetanilide [3] optimisation.

Analysis of the final product by accurate mass

The rotary evaporator Step 3- SN2 Substitution of an alkyl halide. spectroscopy, showed that a very pure sample of
removes solvents at a low
The amine attacks the polarised C-Cl bond at the carbon. The C-Cl bond breaks as the new lidocaine had been synthesized.
temperature by heating
the solution under a N-C bond forms. The chloride ion released can deprotonate the nitrogen of the amine to
vacuum. In addition the generate Lidocaine and hydrochloric acid.
C14H22N2O
solution is rotated in the Acc. Mass:
flask to increase ‡ R3 234.3406
R3 Det. Mass:
efficiency. In the flask is R3 235.1799
H
the 2,6-dimethylaniline [2]
R4 N H + HCl
which was isolated using Cl H
a rotary evaporator. H H
Cl R4
H H
SN2 intermediate
Special thanks to Reading School pupils; Adam Wright, Daniel Rowlands & Alex Brown: for their help with the Lidocaine synthesis.