Modern Day Chemotherapy Lab Report

Introduction: Discovered in 1760 by a chemist by the name of Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt as a byproduct of a Cobalt-Arsenic salt reaction, organometallic compounds are one of the most important branches in chemistry with applications ranging from Light-Emitting-Diodes (LEDs) to chemotherapy drugs. (Astruc, 2007) In the case of this experiment, two Platinum(II) complexes were prepared, then characterized using IR spectroscopy; both cis and trans-Dichloro(dipyridine)platinum(II). These two compounds have been shown to exhibit anticancer properties and are considered essential in modern-day chemotherapy treatments. (Gale, Howle, & Walker Jr., 1971) IR spectroscopy can be used to characterize certain organometallic compounds by measuring

Then, 0.5 mL of freshly distilled pyridine and 1 mL of water was added to the beaker. The beaker was then placed in a sand bath on a magnetic stirring hot plate. The mixture was then stirred and then heated to just below its boiling point until the solids dissolved and yielded a colorless solution of tetrapyridineplatinum(II) chloride. Any undissolved solid was then removed from the solution using a Pasteur filter pipet and transferred to a clean 10 mL beaker. A boiling stone was then added to the solution and then gently heated to dryness. Then, 1-mL of concentrated HCl was added, with stirring, to the white residue. While in a fume hood, this solution was heated again to dryness, which resulted in a pale-yellow solid. The crystals were then scraped from the beaker and then transferred to a Hirsch funnel and then washed with three 0.5 mL portions of ice-water to remove the excess HCl. The product was then washed with a 1-mL portion of ethanol and a 1-mL portion of ether and then dried on a sheet of filter paper. Once dry, the crystals were then placed in a desiccator for 3 days to make sure the crystals were