CHEM 351 READING GUIDE

What should I do to prepare for Chem 351 ?

Check out what we will be expecting from you....
 

The recommended text is "Organic Chemistry", 4th edition by M. Jones and S.A. Fleming (published by Norton). This is a new text book for this year. We don't change often (we had used Carey for over 10 yrs). If you choose to use a different book, then you will need to be prepared to find the appropriate sections in the text yourself using the contents and the index. This is intended to be a general reading guide for the course so you can see where we are heading. Chemistry 351 is an introduction to organic chemistry and spectroscopy, discussing the fundamental concepts required to understand organic chemistry based on a mechanistic approach. This will involve discussing bonding and molecular structure and the implications these have on the properties and reactivity of organic molecules.

The lecture topics covered in approximate order (subject to change) are shown below:

Language of organic chemistry (what do all the arrows, words, diagrams mean etc.)
Bonding : ionic, covalent, polar covalent bonds, dipoles etc.
Lewis structures and formal charges
Curly arrows (IMPORTANT!)
Resonance (IMPORTANT!)
Bond properties (energies, lengths)
VSEPR (shapes of molecules)
Introduction to MO theory (orbitals in molecules = where the electrons are)
Hybridisation simple molecules, hydrocarbons and other functional groups
Hydrocarbons : types alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, arenes
Isomer types.... Constitutional isomers
Radical substitution reactions of alkanes to give alkyl halides.
Radicals

Intermolecular forces and physical properties
Thermodynamics = stability : heats of combustion, heats of formation, heats of reaction etc.

Spectroscopy : Infra red, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, UV, MS : problem solving

Acidity and basity (e.g. pKa trends)

The 6 basic mechanistic families (this covers 99% of the reactions we discuss!)
Nucleophilic substitution reactions of alkyl halides and alcohols
SN1 mechanism
Carbocations
SN2 mechanism
E1 mechanism
Carbocation rearrangements
E2 mechanism
Alkenes : stability based on heats of hydrogenation etc.
Applications of reactions to synthesis
Alkenes from elimination reactions of alkyl halides and alcohols
Alkynes from elimination reactions

Oxidation state in organic systems.

Conformational analysis : terminology
Conformations of alkanes and cycloalkanes

PLEASE CHECK BACK CLOSER TO THE FALL

As a guideline, here is a copy of the chapter sections from the Jones text that we will be covering in Chem 351.
Note that the book supports the course, it is not the script, so don't expect us to work through page by page, chapter by chapter in the order it appears in the text. 

• Ch 1. Atoms and molecules; Orbitals and bonding.
  

• Ch 2. Alkanes

• Ch 3. Alkenes and Alkynes. Structure bonding and nomenclature. Stability.

• Ch 4. Stereochemistry

• Ch 5. Rings

• Ch 6. Alkyl Halides, Alcohhols, Amines, Ethers and their Sulfur-Containiung Relatives

• Ch 7. Substitution and Elimination Reactions: SN2, SN1, E1 and E2 reactions.

• Ch 8. Equilibria

• Ch 11. Radical Reactions

• Ch 15. Analytical Chemistry: Spectroscopy. Chromatogrpahy, IR, UV, MS, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR.
  
  

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