Organic Chemistry Laboratory

By considering the frequent handling of volatile organic compounds in practical organic chemistry courses, we took a number of measures to keep the indoor organic vapour level to a minimum for the sake of students' health. The Organic Chemistry Laboratory is spacious and equipped with 6 newly installed fume cupboards. In addition, a ventilation system is installed for every laboratory bench to provide an exhaust port for each working position. The laboratory is equipped with a wide variety of advanced instruments for undergraduate teaching. The laboratory is also equipped with a rich collection of commonly used laboratory equipment such as rotatory evaporators, melting-point apparatus and centralised vacuum systems.

Partial list of the major instruments:

1. Diode Array UV-visible Spectrophotometer
   For study and characterization of organic samples in the UV and visible ranges (~200-800 nm) and study of reaction kinetics.
2. Mid-IR Spectrometer
   For study and characterization of organic compounds in the mid-IR range (~400-4000 cm^-1)
3. Polarimeter
   For measuring the optical rotation of chiral compounds
4. Gas Chromatograph (with Chiral GC Columns)
   For chromatographic analysis of volatile organic mixtures and determination of the optical purity of volatile chiral organic samples.
5. High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (with Chiral HPLC Columns) 
   For chromatographic analysis of organic mixtures and determination of the optical purity of chiral organic samples.