In a normal year approximately 3 months pass between students taking their final examinations in high school or college and beginning an undergraduate course in chemistry. In the months prior to those examinations, students will usually have undertaken an extensive period of revision and consolidation of the key concepts learned throughout their course. Some of this will be supported by their teachers and some will be independent study. The COVID19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of these examinations in the UK and Ireland, potentially leaving students with a 6-month gap between their last formal study and beginning their undergraduate courses. Insights from the literature and from teachers of students in the 16–18 age range show that it is likely students beginning undergraduate courses in the autumn of 2020 will have weaknesses in subject knowledge compared to previous cohorts. This is likely to be more significant in the areas of synthetic transformations in organic chemistry and core physical chemistry topics. In this communication we present a brief analysis of the potential issues with subject knowledge in order that instructors in higher education may be better informed about the potential challenges in teaching and learning following the COVID19 disruption.

Since the sudden emergence of COVID-19 global pandemic, all educational institutions have looked to move resources and delivery online. Some institutions had already embraced delivering instruction in this way, however, broader adaptation to this teaching style is new to many educators.While the teaching of theoretical concepts is more easily transferred to a blended learning environment, the teaching of practical chemistry poses significant challenges, yet it is crucial to the chemist's identity.Here we describe the establishment of a new, international, network to consider how practical chemistry can be taught outside of the traditional laboratory environment and invite readers of this special edition of the journal to join. Meeting fortnightly and maintaining links through a shared networked drive between meetings, the network has been accessed by over 100 delegates in the UK, mainland Europe, North America and Australasia. The traditional siloes of chemistry have not defined the discussions, which have instead focused on logistical aspects such as social distancing and the pastoral role of the laboratory environment. Initial evaluation shows the network is valued by its members and is making progress towards its aims.

A sulfur HASC (alpha-hetero-atom substituted carbonyl) linker has been utilized in solid-phase approaches to oxindoles and tetrahydroquinolones. The route to oxindoles employs the first Pummerer cyclizations on solid phase, whereas the route to tetrahydroquinolones involves a microwave-assisted Heck reaction followed by a Michael cyclization. In both cases, the linker is cleaved in a traceless fashion by electron transfer from samarium(II) iodide. The routes illustrate the compatibility of the linker system with a number of reaction types and its utility for library synthesis.

[reaction: see text] A sulfur alpha-heteroatom-substituted carbonyl (HASC) linker has been utilized in a solid-phase approach to tetrahydroquinolones. The route illustrates the compatibility of the linker system with palladium-catalyzed transformations and its utility for library synthesis. The linker is cleaved by electron transfer from samarium(II) iodide.

When the word textbook is used, the common image in our minds is that of a physical book, but textbook provision has been impacted by the revolution in digital technology. eBooks are now commonplace in higher education with many university libraries moving to an “e-first” policy. The attitudes of chemistry undergraduates to printed and digital texts were explored using survey data and library analytics. Results suggest that chemistry students have not fully embraced the use of ebooks in their reading, and departments and institutions moving to an e-first policy may benefit from designing class activities which expose students to the ebook service early in their undergraduate programmes.

Chemical bonding is one of the basic concepts in chemistry, and the topic of covalent bonding forms an important core of knowledge for the high school chemistry student. For many teachers it is a challenging concept to teach, not least because it relies mainly on traditional instruction and written work. Similarly, many students find the topic abstract and difficult to grasp and the traditional approach can be disengaging for some students. This modeling activity was used with 14− 16 year old students to consolidate their understanding of the covalent bonding model extend their thinking beyond the "octet rule". This low cost, kinesthetic approach proved to be highly engaging for the students and a useful stimulus for discussion.

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