CHEM 251
Organic Chemistry: Intermediate Level Fall 2023
Division III

This course is a continuation of Chemistry 156 and it concludes the systematic study of the common classes of organic compounds with emphasis on theories of structure and reactivity. Specific topics include radical chemistry, an introduction to mass spectrometry and ultraviolet spectroscopy, the theory and chemical reactivity of conjugated and aromatic systems, the concepts of kinetic and thermodynamic control, an extensive treatment of the chemistry of the carbonyl group, alcohols, ethers, polyfunctional compounds, the concept of selectivity, the fundamentals of organic synthesis, an introduction to carbohydrates, carboxylic acids and derivatives, acyl substitution reactions, amines, and an introduction to amino acids, peptides, and proteins. The coordinated laboratory work includes application of the techniques learned in the introductory level laboratory, along with new functional group analyses, to the separation and identification of several unknown samples. Skills in analyzing NMR, IR, and MS data are practiced and further refined.