Abstract: In the context of emerging engineering education, chemistry courses emphasize not only the development of students’ solid foundational skills in chemistry but also the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge to foster an innovative scientific spirit. “The Preparation of Benzocaine” is a classic undergraduate experiment in comprehensive organic chemistry. However, the original reaction procedure involves the generation of substantial waste acid during esterification, a cumbersome and time-consuming reduction step, and lacks engagement. To enhance efficiency, environmental friendliness, expansiveness and exploratory nature of the experiment, cutting-edge scientific advancements have been integrated into the preparation reaction. In the improved experiment, a deep eutectic solvent is utilized as a catalyst in the esterification reaction, which is recyclable and environmentally friendly. For the reduction step, tetrahydroxydiboron serves as the reducing agent and 4,4’-bipyridine as the catalyst, enabling the reaction to take place at room temperature with a noticeable color change, thereby making it engaging. This improved experiment not only stimulates students’ interest in learning, but also improves students’ scientific research literacy, and cultivates students’ green chemistry concept, independent thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Key words: Esterification, Deep eutectic solvents, Reduction, Tetrahydroxydiboron