Recreating the smell of fruits in Chemistry

Students in Mr. McDonald’s grade 12 Chemistry class at St. Benedict are learning from a former graduate this week.

The students are working with Jarvis Hill, who has just finished his third year at the University of Guelph in Organic Chemistry.

The goal was to study reactions and esterification to create the smell of pineapples, grapes and pears and show the students that chemistry really can be beautiful.

In photo: Student Matthew McDonald learns about the language of chemistry with former student Jarvis Hill during a chemistry esterification lab.