A Second Chance for Expired Medication: Teaching Green Analytical Chemistry in an Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Course for Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Teaching analytical chemistry is an important obligation in various fields of natural sciences, yet the responsibility to convey the complexity and required interconnected thinking of the subject is very challenging. Additionally, it is important to put the conducted laboratory experiments in the context of real-world problems and prepare students for their future professional lives. We herein propose the teaching of analytical chemistry to fifth-semester pharmaceutical sciences students on active pharmaceutical ingredients from expired medications from the perspective of green chemistry and green analytical chemistry (GAC). In a five half-day course, students learn how to independently plan laboratory experiments, perform common analytical techniques, and practically implement newly learned concepts. Liquid–liquid extraction was used to extract paracetamol and mefenamic acid from tablets, which were then used to apply common analytical techniques such as infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The students were encouraged to implement various concepts of GAC in their experiments, aiming at using greener solvents, reducing generated waste, and improving overall safety. As a learning assessment, the students performed the analytical data analysis and summarized their results in a certificate of analysis, a common form of report used in the industrial and pharmaceutical fields. Based on a questionnaire the students answered after the course, we were able to show that our concept not only taught analytical chemistry but also could draw a connection to real-world issues including medication waste, the environmental impact of analytical procedures, and the future professional life of the students.