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TU-Clausthal Institute of Organic Chemistry

The fascination of chemistry

Topic 6: The fascination of organic chemistry

Chemical light

Chemistry of light: phosphorescence and luminescence
How can deep-sea fish or fireflies glow?
What is the chemistry behind noctilucent liquids?
What influence does light have on chemical reactions?
Why is UV light dangerous for us?

We want to ask these questions with you,

Luminol
Lucigenin

and other noctilucent substances and carry out some reactions in the photoreactor.

Soccer molecules

Hardly any other topic in the natural sciences has developed as rapidly in recent years as that of the "fourth" carbon modification, the long undiscovered fullerenes. These highly symmetrical molecules, which consist only of carbon, are characterized by a whole host of extraordinary properties. Buckminsterfullerene C60, for example, which was only isolated in 1990, has one of the highest voltage energies ever determined. A Nobel Prize was awarded to Curl, Kroto and Smalley for its isolation in 1996.

Interested in learning more about this substance?

We extract fullerenes from carbon black, isolate C60 by column chromatography and carry out a reaction on this molecule