Undergraduate Courses

CHGN 222B

Organic Chemistry 2

Text: Organic Chemistry, 6th Edition (2016), by Marc Loudon and Jim Parise, Publisher: Roberts and Company

Topics covered in this course:

  • Ethers, Epoxides, Glycols
  • Alkynes, Dienes & Aromaticity
  • Benzene & Derivatives
  • Allylic and Benzylic Reactions
  • Aryl Halides including Transition Metal Catalyzed C-C, C-N Bond Formation Chemistry
  • Aldehydes and Ketones
  • Carboxylic Acids
  • Carboxylic Acid Derivatives
  • Enolates and Enols
  • Amines
  • Biochemistry Overview
  • Special Topic Lectures and Lab Tours

CHGN 223

Organic Chemistry 1 Laboratory

Text: Organic Chemistry I Lab Manual by Cengage Learning

Topics covered in this course:

  • Measuring the Melting Points of Compounds & Mixtures
  • Purifying Acetanilide by Recrystallization
  • Separating Cyclohexane and Toluene by Distillation
  • Separating Acids and Neutral Compounds by Solvent Extraction
  • Brominating Alkenes, using trans-Stilbene
  • Greener Bromination of Stilbene – Greener Chemistry, in-situ Br2, Better Atom Economy
  • Conformation of Alkylcyclohexanes (Stereochemistry) – ADF Computational Exercise
  • Studying SN1 and SN2 Reactions:
    • Nucleophilic Substitution at Saturated Carbon
    • Factors Affecting the Rates of SN1 Reactions
  • Dehydrating Cyclohexanol – Microscale dehydration using a Hickman Still Assembly
  • Gas Chromatography
  • Spectroscopy – Using FTIR, MS & NMR to Determine the Identity of an Unknown Compound

CHGN 224

Organic Chemistry 2 Laboratory

Text:   Organic Chemistry 2 Lab Manual by Cengage Learning

Topics covered in this course:

  • Williamson Ether Synthesis of Phenacetin
  • Diels-Alder Reaction
  • ADF Exercise #1: Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution – (Computation Based Experiment)
  • Nitrating Acetanilide: Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution
  • Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution
  • Reducing Benzil Using Sodium Borohydride
  • Preparing Isopentyl Acetate by Fischer Esterification
  • Synthesizing Aspirin:  The Acetylation of Salicylic Acid
  • Acetaminophen:  The Acetylation of p-Aminophenol
  • The Aldol Condensation:  Synthesis of Dibenzylideneacetone
  • Microwave Technology Experiment
  • Synthesis of Nylon 6,6
  • Synthesis of Polyurethane
  • Resorcinol-Formaldehyde Resin and Poly(methylmethacrylate)

Graduate Courses

CHGN 505

Advanced Organic Chemistry

Text: Advanced Organic Chemistry Part B: Reactions and Synthesis, 5th edition (2007) by Francis Carey and Richard Sundberg, Publisher: Springer

Course Description and Objectives:

Organic synthesis is the process of preparing a complex molecule from commercially available starting materials via a multistep sequence of transformations. The preparation of compounds and an understanding of their properties and their mechanism of formation are fundamental in all aspects of chemistry, materials, pharmacology, agrochemicals and molecular biology. The purpose of this course is to teach the synthesis of complex organic compounds emphasizing modern reagents and methods. To achieve this we will discuss the more important mechanisms of organic reactions and the structural effects and reactivities in these reactions. We will then apply these reaction mechanisms to synthesize complex organic compounds.

Upon completion of this class, all students should have developed a fundamental base of knowledge about organic reactions in the context of synthesis and mechanism. Using this knowledge student should be able to:

  1. Understand the specific transformation a reaction is capable of achieving and the mechanism of this transformation.
  2. Outline the reagents and reaction conditions used for modern organic reactions and what, if any, substances can catalyze these reactions.
  3. Recognize the sensitivity of particular organic reactions to functional groups and steric conditions and plan suitable synthetic pathways to deal with these issues.

Use the combination of the above points to effectively design synthetic pathways for the preparation of complex organic compounds.

CHGN 538

Organic Semiconductors: New Technologies for Emerging Applications

Course Description and Objectives: 

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) is a display technology that can be found in many commercial products such as the Samsung Galaxy series, LG, Moto, Google Pixel and HTC cell phones as well as large area TVs.  This technology was on the R&D bench-top a few years ago and has now reached high volume manufacturing.  Other related technologies like organic photovoltaics (OPV) and organic thin film transistors (OTFT) are now very close to commercialization as well.  This course will provide an overview on how this meteoric rise from bench-top to commercial products occurred as well as the design, synthesis and uses of conjugated organic small molecules, oligomers and polymers in applications such as OLEDs (for flat panel displays and lighting), OPV, OTFT, perovskite technologies, and sensors.  Additional topics to be covered are factors governing the materials physical properties and structure-property relationship in electronic device applications.  The prospect of using low cost printing techniques such as inkjet, screen, and gravure printing in the fabrication of roll-to-roll organic based devices will be discussed. Encapsulation, lifetime and reliability issues will also be presented.  Lastly guest speakers from the National Renewable Energy Labs (NREL) and industry will present on their research in these areas.  Prerequisite courses: Organic Chemistry 1 & 2 are encouraged.

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