This training video explains how to document chemical synthesis so that experiments can be understood, repeated, and built upon by other researchers. Using a Suzuki coupling between an aryl bromide and a boronic acid as a running example, it shows how small details—such as reagent lot, purity, atmosphere, temperature, and reaction time—can determine whether a synthesis succeeds and whether its results can be reproduced.

The video presents practical documentation habits across the full life of a synthesis:

• Plan before starting: State the objective and record the reaction scheme, calculated quantities, and stoichiometry.

• Capture reagent provenance: Select chemicals from laboratory inventory where possible, preserving details such as supplier, lot number, purity, and bottle age.

• Record every outcome: Document successful, partial, and failed experiments with the same level of detail, including conditions tested and observations made during the reaction.

• Write observations in real time: Note what actually happens—such as colour changes, precipitates, unexpected masses, or gas evolution—rather than reconstructing an idealized account later.

• Keep analytical data connected: Attach NMR, mass-spectrometry, and other files directly to the experiment, with clear names and brief interpretations of what the data shows.

• Organize optimization as a campaign: Use a consistent table to compare conditions and results, making trends and promising conditions easier to identify.

• Turn reproducible results into a procedure: Prepare a standalone recipe with exact quantities, sequence of additions, reaction conditions, work-up, purification, and practical tips.

• Make records searchable and reusable: Use consistent templates, machine-readable reaction representations such as reaction SMILES, and open data formats such as CSV.

The video also compares documentation approaches—including an ELN linked to inventory, Word documents with attached files, and Markdown with version control—and emphasizes that consistent, findable records matter more than the tool alone. It concludes with a six-step checklist for planning, reagent selection, real-time recording, data attachment, optimization, and writing the final procedure. The intended audience is chemistry researchers and students seeking to improve reproducibility, preserve experimental knowledge, and make their work easier for others to continue.

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• The pictures have been generated using DeepAgent
• The voice has been provided by Elevenlabs
• The video was produced by using HeyGen