CHEM 373
Environmental Fate of Organic Chemicals Fall 2022
Division III
Cross-listed CHEM 373 / ENVI 373
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course introduces students to the methods used to assess the risks posed by organic chemicals to human, animal, and ecosystem health. Our goal is to develop a quantitative understanding for how specific features of organic molecular structure directly dictate a given molecule’s environmental fate. We will begin by using thermodynamic principles to estimate the salient physiochemical properties of molecules (e.g., vapor pressure, solubility, charging behavior, etc.) that impact the distribution, or partitioning, of organic chemicals between air, water, soils, and biota. Then, using quantitative structure activity relationships, we will predict the degradation kinetics resulting from natural nucleophilic, photochemical, and biological processes that determine chemical lifetime in the environment.
The Class: Format: lecture; lecture, three hours per week and conference, 1.5 hours per week
Limit: 16
Expected: 16
Class#: 1208
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: weekly problem sets, two midterm exams, a final exam, participation in conference, an independent research proposal
Prerequisites: CHEM 251 and either CHEM 155 or CHEM 256
Enrollment Preferences: junior and senior Chemistry and Environmental Studies majors with a demonstrated interest in environmental chemistry
Distributions: Division III
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
CHEM 373 Division III ENVI 373 Division III
Attributes: ENVI Natural World Electives
EVST Environmental Science

Class Grid

Course Catalog Archive Search

TERM/YEAR
TEACHING MODE
SUBJECT
DIVISION



DISTRIBUTION



ENROLLMENT LIMIT
COURSE TYPE
Start Time
End Time
Day(s)