From Breaking Bad to Breaking Bonds-Mass Spectrometry in the Classroom

We describe a workshop that prompts chemistry students in the final 2 years of secondary school to apply their understanding of modern analytical chemistry techniques to a 'real world' example. The scenario used is that of a forensic science laboratory that has been asked to determine the structure of an illicit compound, Revisomed (methamphetamine) being sold as a revision aid, and seized by police. Over the course of an hour, the students use a combination of infrared (IR) spectroscopy, liquid chromatography (LC), high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy data to determine the structure of Revisomed from first principles. The bulk of the workshop is spent reviewing MS data and using m/z, the isotope pattern, elemental composition and product ion data to reach three plausible isomeric structures for Revisomed, which are then distinguished by NMR spectroscopy. More broadly, the workshop focusses on the use of the scientific method and the concept that 'no ideas are bad' when exploring hypotheses. We describe the structure of the workshop, and our experience delivering it to a local academy over the last 9 years.