1. On a recent trip to Portland to drop my son off at the airport, we stayed overnight at the Howard Johnson’s, and as with all hotels, they had small bottles of hand lotion, shampoo and conditioner to use. In this case, the products were made by a company called Matrix, with the brand name totalresults™. The shampoo and conditioner were called Repair with Cuticle Rebond Technology™. The body lotion had no name. The following are the ingredient lists for the three products:

Hand Lotion – Water, mineral oil, glycerin, cetyl alcohol, palm oil, stearyl heptandate, hexyldecanol, carbomer, triethanolamine, PEG-100 stearate, glyceryl stearate, phenoxyethanol, stearyl caprylate, stearic acid, palmitic acid, potassium sorbate, dimethicone, fragrance, benzoic acid, limonene, hexyl cinnamal, coumarin, linalool, butylphenyl methylpropional, benzyl alcohol, hydroxycitronellal, amyl cinnamal, geraniol, alpha-isomethyl ionone, isoeugenol, benyl benzoate, cinnamyl alcohol

Shampoo – Water, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium chloride, cocamide MEA, glycol distearate, sodium benzoate, fragrance, hexylene glycol, polyquaternium-7, salicylic acid, carbomer, amodimethicone, limonene, linalool, 2-oleamido-1,3-octadecanediol, trideceth-6, cetrimonium chloride, sodium hydroxide, citric acid

Conditioner – Water, cetearyl alcohol, behentrimonium chloride, glycerin, octadodecanol, phenoxyethanol, fragrance, methylparaben, isopropyl alcohol, amodimethicone, limonene, chlorhexidine dihydrochloride, linalool, 2-oleamido-1,3-octadecanediol, trideceth-6, cetrimonium chloride

Using the references of your choice, find out as much as you can about the organic ingredients in these products (you can omit water, mineral oil, palm oil, cocamide MEA, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, fragrance and repeats). Make sure to list your references, and try to use some variety in your choice of references (this goes for the rest of the exam as well).

2. Find a product in your house or workplace that has an ingredient label that has organic chemicals on it, and find out as much as you can about them, again using the references of your choice. Try drawing the structures by hand (no credit taken off for your artistic efforts).

3. Complete the following crossword puzzle:

4. Everyone in the class said they have cooked before (Nicholas said he’s not very good at it). In the labs so far, we’ve sort of followed recipes and recorded our observations on the results. To get more practice, pick a recipe for some food you like, follow it, and record the results. You can leave out photos, but certainly bring in to class the result if you’re willing to share. The format should be that of our lab reports: title, introduction, materials & procedure, results, and discussion (i.e., what did you expect, what did you get, and why do you think it was different).

5. A large quantity of the primary petrochemicals, such as ethylene and styrene, are used to make plastics – polymers that are used in many of the products we use everyday. In the U.S., we have a numbering system for the major plastics, to facilitate recycling. Using the references of your choice, describe each of the seven categories with the full chemical name (or names) and some of the common products, made from the plastic, that you use or are familiar with. If you can find production numbers for any of these plastics in the U.S., include these also.

6. The passage of the new recreational marijuana laws in Oregon and Washington have seen the opening of many local shops to purchase marijuana products in the last few years. In addition, with a doctor’s prescription, in Oregon you have been able to buy so-called “medical marijuana” products for many years. The major constituents of the cannabis plant are CBD (cannabidiol) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Whereas THC is associated with euphoric “highs” and problems with the law, cannabidiol has been given for a while to patients with cancer and other chronic diseases. Three other common drugs sold over-the-counter for pain are aspirin, Tylenol® and ibuprofen (we’ll make aspirin and acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol®, later this term in lab). Using references of your choice, draw the structures of these drugs and describe any similarities you can find.

7. It’s been known for a while that too much sugar in our diet can be detrimental to our health, and not just because of weight gain. Over the years, chemists have produced many sugar substitutes that have had various levels of success on the market. In addition, naturally-occurring sweet substances have been used to replace sugar in many products. The three primary compounds used as sugar substitutes in the United States are saccharin, aspartame and sucralose. Maltitol and sorbitol are also often used. Erythritol is gaining momentum as a replacement for these other sugar alcohols in foods as it is much less likely to produce gastrointestinal distress when consumed in large amounts. In many other countries, xylitol, cyclamate, and the herbal sweetener stevia are used extensively. Even compounds called mogropides, which can be 300 times as sweet as sugar, have been investigated. Using references of your choice, describe the structures of these sugar substitutes and some foods or drinks that you are familiar with that use these products.

8. The shellfish industry on the Long Beach peninsula has long used pesticides to kill unwanted plants and animals that hindered their operations. Starting in the 1990s, and still going on, the spraying of the tideflats of Willapa Bay to rid them of the so-called “invasive species” of grass called spartina has been controversial, but has largely been “successful”. The herbicide Rodeo® from Monsanto was used, and its active ingredient is glyphosate. Another concern to shellfish growers has been a small species of burrowing shrimp called ghost shrimp because of their appearance. Up until recently, the growers used a pesticide called carbaryl to control the shrimp, which are native to Willapa Bay. A lawsuit by a local group caused the growers to look for another way to control the shrimp. They came up with another pesticide called imidacloprid, which happens to be a member of the neonicotinoid family, which have been implicated in the demise of bees globally. Subsequent to approval from the Washington State Department of Ecology, a ruckus broke out in the media and especially in the restaurant industry in Seattle, and the growers and Ecology withdrew the permit. Now the growers are asking for the permit again. Using references of your choice, find the structures of these three pesticides, and their properties and products in which they are used.