Does anyone have any ideas for a starter in organic chemistry for a group of 17 year olds? Something fun and interesting that could act as a "hook" into the subject?

u can do some home xperiment if u are interested !!!!

 

the most popular home experiments is

 

Esterification !!!!!

 

try iT , u'll like IT

I got to make asprin at a college open day when I was 16 which was quite easy and fun. It's good as it's quite simple and also a product that everyone is familiar with and can relate to.

well there`s the old classic of making your own Aspirin, but that`s kinda Boring as you can`t test it.

how about making Soap? simple saponification.

Estrification`s good too (as mentioned above), choose carfull and you`ll get the smells they can Identify with, Cherry`s good, as used in Cherry Coke.

 

organic metal salts, like Barium, or Strontium benzoates mixed with an oxidiser and burned is also neat to watch (KClO3 is the best Ox choice).

 

Glow Sticks?

making Nylon?

 

there`s alsorts

Well, making aspirin itself isn't difficult, but the acetic anhydride precursor may be more than slightly difficult to obtain.

Why not make nylon, that is quite fun.

Thanks for the suggestions, we will be trying esters as the fruity smells sound like a good start. Good lead in to some of the theory too!

Why not make nylon, that is quite fun.

 

Yeah that reaction is so cool, i saw it when they had a solution of sebacoylchloride(that is the 6-carbon long dicarboxylic acid with chlorine in place of hydrogen in the hydroxide group right?) and 1,6-diaminohexane. Nylon fibers are formed and with a glass stick you roll up a thread of nylon from the solution, that was really amazing (thanks dorothers!) . But if acetic anhydride is hard to find, shouldn't the ingredients for nylon be too? at least so they seem.

 

I think its the most amazing example of polymerization.