Welcome budding organic chemists!
Updated August 15th, 2021
For those of you who have already had me, you know that this is the page to come to to get assignments, labs, weekly announcements and summaries. Past weeks announcements will be placed in the Quarter 1 Archives drop-down menu. Do make sure you have printed out both the O-Chem Syllabus and Weekly Pacing Guide. Introduction to Organic Chemistry
As many of you know, organic chemistry is my MOST favorite class to teach! It is like church service in every class, as I marvel explaining the nature and behavior of organic compounds. When you are done with this class you are going to understand so much more how the natural world works.
Definition of "organic chemistry" What defines organic chemistry has changed somewhat over the last two hundred years. It was previously known as the study of compounds that only living organisms can synthesize. When German physician Friedrich Wohler synthesized urea in 1828, however, that definition had to change. The modern definition of an organic compound is a compound comprised primarily of carbon and hydrogen. This definition expands the field now, so that not only are the products of living organisms studied, but pharmaceuticals, flavorants, molecules used in fuels, and even polymers used in materials science. The organic molecules in these materials may also contain oxygen (such as carbohydrates), sulfur and nitrogen (such as amino acids), phosphorus (nucleic acids, ATP), chlorine and fluorine atoms (coolants, plastics), and some metals (organometallic compounds). What is common about all organic compounds is they have a "backbone" of carbon. What to expect in Week 1
The first week of class will be a general chemistry review of:
Before class on Tuesday, make certain you print out the Chapter 1 Worksheets (below) and bring them to class. We will solve a lot of problems during class, as this is the best way to learn organic chemistry, so always have homework assignments printed out and ready during classtime. For Thursday's class you will need to print out the Lab on Lewis Structures (below). Check-off List of Things to Do:
In order to be adequately prepared for classes next week, please make sure you do the following by:
Tuesday, August 24th, 2021
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Week 1 Resources/ Assets
Course Videos
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