CHEM 0241:   Organic Chemistry

Course Syllabus

Winter Term, 2002

Course Instructor:  Roger Sandwick
                                    Office:  Room 452, Bicentennial Hall
                                    Office Phone:   x 3496                       Home Phone: (518) 563 - 2818
                                    email: rsandwic@middlebury.edu
                                    Office Hours:  Most early afternoons and/or by appointment

Lab Instructor:  Roger Sommer
                                    Office:  Room 322, Bicentennial Hall
                                    Office Phone:  x 3495
                                    Email: rdsommer@middlebury.edu

Course Meeting Time: Lecture   (BIH 464) :  MTWH  8:30 – 11:00 am
                                                Lab Briefing: MTWH  12:30 – 1:30 pm
                                                Lab (BIH 557):  MTWH 1:30 – 5:30 pm (first three weeks)
                                                                              M          1:30 – 5:30 pm (final week)

Textbook and Other Needs:

Organic Chemistry, 3^rd Edition by Paula Y. Bruice, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle
      River, NJ, 2001

            Study Guide and Solutions Manual for Organic Chemistry by Paula Y. Bruice,
                  Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2001 (optional)

            Organic Nomenclature, 5^th Edition by James G. Trayham, Prentice Hall, Upper
                  Saddle River, NJ 1997

            Macroscale and Microscale Organic Experiments, 3^rd Edition by Kenneth
                 Williamson, D.C. Heath and Co., Lexington, MA 1999

            Saunders Student Laboratory Research Notebook

            Safety Goggles

Course Outline: 

We will move through the Bruice textbook from Chapter 1 – 13 at a relatively brisk rate over the four weeks of the course.   The only major deviation from the sequence of the textbook will be to cover Chapters 12 and 13 (structural determination of organic compounds) prior to Chapters 9 – 11.  (This sequence fits better with the laboratory syllabus.)  Nomenclature in the Traynham book (Chapters 1 – 8) will be covered in class and then reviewed in lab briefing.   

Thus, the general topics to be covered will be

1) Structure and Bonding (Chapter 1)

2) Alkanes and alkane reactions (in Chapters 2 & 8)

3) Stereochemistry (Chapter 4)

4) Alkenes, Alkynes and Dienes (Chapters 3, 5, 6, & 7)

5) Structural Determination of Organic Compounds (Chapters 12 & 13)

6) Substitution and Elimination Reactions (Chapters 9 – 11)

Course Requirements: 

            Exams:  (50 %) Four three hour exams to be given each Friday.  The final exam
                         will be semi-cumulative with some coverage of laboratory theory.

            Quizzes: (15 %) At the end of each lecture on Tuesday. 

            In Class Activities/Homework (10%)

            Laboratory (25 %) – see lab syllabus 

Absences:  With each day of the J-term representing one week of a normal semester organic course, it is critical that you do not miss a class period.     Any problems with attendance should be discussed beforehand with either Professor Sandwick (lecture) or Professor Sommer (laboratory).  All excused absences need to be made up at the convenience of the instructor. 

Comments:   

The logistics of “squeezing” a semester of organic chemistry into four weeks will place great demands on the student.  In a given week there will be a need for reading and comprehension of approximately three chapters of textbook material and two chapters of nomenclature, the thorough preparation for a quiz and a major exam, the preparation for three laboratory exercises, and the writing of three lab reports.  All of these activities need to be accomplished above and beyond the typically seven hours of classroom/laboratory time.  It is, therefore, imperative that you stay on task for the full four weeks and do not slip behind.    Despite the “rush” nature of this offering, it is also important to remember that retention of the material is important for the second semester of the course.