Abstract:

In the outcome-based teaching activities of investigational experiments and innovative capacity development, a three-stage teaching process is designed to enable students to experience the whole process of scientific research and develop research skills in the experimental learning process. The three stages are design, implementation, and conclusion of the program. This paper demonstrates the results of teaching activity based on an example of a student's lab report written in the form of a published paper. To investigate the Fischer esterification reaction under ultrasonic assisted conditions, the report compares the catalytic efficiency of different catalysts for the reaction using the esterification synthesis reaction of ethyl benzoate as an example. The results indicate that acid-loaded montmorillonite K-10 catalysis is significantly better than sulfuric acid catalysis. The report also compares the powder X-ray diffraction spectra of montmorillonite before and after modification, and provides a preliminary discussion of the mechanism. The reaction conditions are mild, and have implications for the synthesis of small molecule esters.

Key words: Undergraduate teaching, Research experiments, Fischer esterification, Ultrasonic assist