Presentation topics should be pre-approved by the instructor and must not be too close to your own research area. These must not repeat a prior presentation (see a list of past presentation topics here). Please email your selection to the instructor by the deadline stipulated in the orientation session.
Short Presentations
Topic: Recent Total Synthesis*
Duration: 20 minutes

Must include:

  • Retrosynthesis
  • Comparison with previously reported syntheses
  • Analysis should include merits and weaknesses of current route
  • Why is the key step different from other routes?
  • Why are the reactions important?
  • Choose a few critically important reactions to discuss their mechanism

In your choice of paper, you need to choose a conceptually interesting synthesis.
For an example of a very good short talk see: link

*If you have passed 4 cumes, you can choose to present a new methods paper.
Long Presentations
Topic: Typically new method or a recent method with a significant advance
(e.g. Recent Advances in Transition Metal-Catalyzed sp2 C–H Bond Activation)
Organization and examples cannot come from a recent review
Duration: 40 minutes

Need to emphasize:

  • Why is the method important?
  • How does the new method change current thinking?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of each example?

You need to tell a story of how a reaction was developed. For a good way to tell a story, see any recent Angewandte Chemie Highlight.

Reciting a list of reactions for 40 minutes is insufficient to pass. You must provide a story based on historical timeline and basic principles.

For examples of very good long talks see: link and link