A VR-assisted hybrid teaching model for sustainable mechanochemical synthesis: educational overview and case study of a Cu–N-heterocyclic carbene undergraduate laboratory

Integrating sustainable synthesis and modern instructional technologies into undergraduate laboratory education is essential for advancing chemistry teaching aligned with sustainability goals. This work presents an overview of the educational implications of virtual reality (VR) in modern education. It describes a hybrid teaching model implemented in an advanced undergraduate inorganic chemistry course, based on a survey of student preferences involving 109 students across multiple courses at Khalifa University of Science and Technology, United Arab Emirates. Using solvent-free mechanosynthesis and characterization of a copper N-heterocyclic carbene (Cu–NHC) complex as a representative example of contemporary, sustainable organometallic chemistry, the module integrates hands-on experimentation with immersive, transferable digital learning tools that can be used as teaching resources when access to mechanochemistry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instrumentation is limited. The VR-assisted session was implemented as a case study with a cohort of 15 undergraduate students who volunteered and focused on improving laboratory preparedness, procedural understanding, and familiarity with advanced synthetic and analytical techniques. Overall, this work demonstrates a feasible and scalable teaching model aligned with green chemistry principles and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.