CHEM 241-601

CHEMISTRY 241 - 601

Fall Semester, 2007

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I

University of Pennsylvania

College of General Studies

Instructor: William A. Price, Ph.D.

price@lasalle.edu

http://www.lasalle.edu/~price/

(215)-951-1261

Teaching Assistants: Mark Kaucher, Ph.D. kaucher@sas.upenn.edu, Melissa Flores, floresm@sas.upenn.edu

Class Meetings: Tuesdays, September 11 - December 4, 2006 from 6:30-9:15 in DRLB A-4.

Recitation: Tuesday, 10:00-11:00 & Friday, 6:30-7:30 - At these sessions, assigned problems from the book and posted problem sets will be addressed. It is strongly recommended that you attend either one of these classes every week.

My Fall Semester Schedule

Texts: T.W. Graham Solomons, Organic Chemistry, 9^th Edition, John Wiley and Sons, 2008.

Other Materials: Darling Molecular Model Set (available in Bookstore) or Chem-Tutor model kit available from instructor.

Web sites: wileyplus / F. Carey's interactive site (needs MDL Chime)

Course Description and Objectives:

The area of organic chemistry is concerned with the chemistry of carbon-containing compounds. This field of chemistry is central to the areas of pharmaceuticals, petroleum, plastics, flavors, fragrances, pesticides, and life processes.Organic compounds include such molecules as cholesterol, proteins, lipids, DNA, chemotherapeutic agents, AZT, agent orange, and aspirin. Although organic compounds potentially contain many elements of the periodic table, this course will limit its coverage to those compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and the halogens.

It has been suggested that the properties and reactivities of organic compounds are a direct reflection of their geometries, bond strengths, and electron distribution (polarities). The course begins by reviewing atomic and molecular structure using modern orbital theories. Then, beginning with methane, the simplest organic compound, we will begin to develop the foundation of organic chemistry.

The study of organic chemistry is organized by investigating different groups or categories of compounds (these are called functional groups). All compounds in a given functional group contain a common sub-molecular portion that typically dictates the physical, chemical, and often the biological properties of the molecule. Students of organic chemistry are often overwhelmed by the number of compounds, names, reactions, and mechanisms that confront them. Perhaps the most important skill that a student can develop in CHM 241 is the ability to organize, categorize and apply. By learning an abstract concept and having the flexibility to apply it to a variety of similar situations, the amount of memorization is drastically reduced.

Strategy:

The amount of material to be covered is quite large (approximately 500 text book pages) thus it is imperative that you keep up with the course. Keeping up is most easily accomplished by reading the appropriate chapter prior to attending class. Work as many of the assigned problems from the book (as well as any suggested supplementary problems) as possible and ask for help when necessary. This is not the type of course where one can cram everything in the night before an exam. You may also find that rewriting your lecture notes in a less hurried (and more legible) fashion will help in your retaining and comprehending the material.

Chapter Sequence and Suggested Problems:

We will cover chapters 1-10 in CHM 241. Chapter coverage will be somewhat selective. It is the student's responsibility to know what portions of chapters are not covered in lectures and thus not covered on exams.

The text contains an excellent set of problems. It is recommended that you solve the suggested problems in the running text as you read the material (you may want to use a composition notebook for problems). Recommended problems from the chapters will be posted and can be used to fine-tune your grasp of the material.

I will periodically post practice exams and problem sets in addition to the assigned problems. For these, you will need

Adobe Acrobat Reader which you likely already have on your computer.

A link to our ambitious schedule for the semester is below. Please make note of the examination and quiz dates. The final examination is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 6:30 PM.

Schedule for Fall Semester, 2007

Printable Periodic Table

Chapters 1 The Basics

Introduction ppt, structure and bonding, resonance, molecular representations

Molecular Orbitals ppt, hybridization, polarity

Hybridization review

Bonding patterns for C, N, & O

Chapter 1,2 problems for some of these you will need to read ahead a bit. answers

resonance, acid/base, arrows some practice problems answers

Drawing structures

Curved Arrow tutorial with problems / Lewis dot tutorial from UCLA

Chapter 2 - Representative Carbon Compounds