CH2032:03
Organic Chemistry
Townsville
HECS Band 2
32 hours lectures, 4 hours tutorials, 36 hours practicals. Semester 1.
Staff: Assoc. Professor B Bowden, Assoc. Professor G Meehan.
This is an integrated subject consisting of lectures and practical work demonstrating the basic principles of organic chemistry and relevant spectroscopic methods. Specific topics covered: Structure and reactivity. Reaction mechanisms, energetics, reactive intermediates. Stereoisomerism, conformational analysis. Instrumental methods of structure analysis (particularly nmr spectroscopy). Aliphatic and alicyclic chemistry including monofunctional and polyfunctional systems. Organic synthesis: carbon-carbon bond formation, oxidation and reduction, protecting groups, laboratory peptide and oligonucleotide synthesis. Aromatic chemistry including theory of aromaticity, mechanism and orientation of substitution, mono and polyfunctional derivatives of benzene. Heterocyclic chemistry: comparative chemistry of furan, pyrrole, thiophen and pyridine; chemistry and importance of purines and pyrimidines.
Learning Objectives:
- understand the basic principles governing the reactivity of organic compounds;
- be familiar with the characteristic reactions of aliphatic, aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds;
- be able to apply these reactions to simple problems in organic synthesis;
- have a knowledge of the spectroscopic techniques which are applicable to organic compounds and be able to apply these to the elucidation of the structures of relatively simple compounds;
- be familiar with, and competent in the application of, basic laboratory techniques in organic chemistry.
Assessment by a three-hour examination (75%); in-course assessment of practical work and reports (25%).