CHM 235 : Organic Chemistry I
Part one of a two-semester science majors level course on the facts and principles of chemistry as they apply to carbon-based compounds. The course has a mandatory lab that complements the lecture. Topics include re-emphasis of lab safety, mixture separation techniques; spectroscopy; Lewis, Valence and Molecular orbital bonding theory; representing organic compounds; acid-based theory; relationship between structure and properties including polarity, stability, acidity and physical properties; stereochemistry; nomenclature; patterns in the physical and chemical properties of aliphatic cyclic and acyclic alkanes, alkenes, alkyl halides and alcohols; applying the principles of thermodynamics, kinetics and mechanism to substitution, addition, redox and elimination reactions. Prerequisite: CHM 114 with a grade of C or better. Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
Course Outcomes
- Apply the basic principles that govern covalent bonding concepts to the structure of organic compounds including the octet rule, Lewis structures, formal charge, hybridization and resonance.
- Recognize families of organic compounds based on their functional groups, and apply nomenclature rules to draw formulas, structures, and write names or organic compounds.
- Explain the role of chemical structure, hybridization, resonance and inductive effects on acid/base strength, and apply acid/base theory to correlate structure and reactivity in the context of the reactions and mechanisms or organic compounds.
- Use molecular and/or computational models, structural drawings, and proper terminology to describe the conformations of alkanes and cycloalkanes, to distinguish stable versus reactive molecular conformations, and to explain chemical reactivity.
- Apply the concepts of isomerism and chirality in organic chemistry, draw Fischer projections, recognize and assessing configurations.
- Apply the knowledge of functional group reactivity to propose reasonable mechanisms to predict and explain the outcome of a reaction, relative reactivity and stereochemistry.