Chemistry 3: Organic Reactions and Mechanisms (with Lab)
Course Description
Summary
Chemistry 3 focuses on the nature and pathways of organic reactions: what the steps are, how we experimentally determine them, and how we can use them to solve practical problems, such as the synthesis of a drug, or understanding the action of an enzyme. Emphasis will be using the general principles of nucleo- and and electrophilicity to provide a logical framework for understanding substitution, addition, elimination and reactions involving carbonyl groups. Chemical kinetics will also be a topic of study because of the insights it provides for reaction mechanisms. Lab will focus on several clusters of experiments designed for students to extend what they know to answer questions of their own. A major project will be the development of a research proposal based on the student鈥檚 own question. Background from the literature will motivate the proposal and initial experiments will be proposed.
Learning Outcomes
- - predict the products of substitution, elimination and addition reactions
- - understand the reaction patterns of carbonyl compounds
- - further develop experimental skills
- - characterize organic molecules using spectroscopic techniques
Prerequisites
Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2.
Please contact the faculty member : fortuneononiwu@bennington.edu