An Approach to Developing Electronic Textbook for Chemical Experiment Taking Walden's Inversion as an Example

We are developing electronic textbook for of basic chemistry-experiment for university students in which reaction mechanisms are shown by computer graphics (CG). The CGs of chemical reactions was made based on the empirical molecular orbital calculations. The CGs include following reactions as a model of Walden's inversion where drastic change in structure takes place, such as, formation of 2-butyl alcohol and 1-butyl bromide. The CGs could simultaneously demonstrates the nature of the reaction such as structural change by the space-filling model and by the ball-and-stick model in addition to providing image of energy change by the reaction profile. The electronic textbook also displays picture of apparatus and flow-chart of small-scale experiment. Result of preliminary study on effectiveness of the CG is included.