Howard
Payne Course Numbers
Organic Chemistry 1: CHE 2331
Organic Chemistry Laboratory 1: CHE 2139
Current Syllabus
Organic Chemistry 2: CHE 2341
Organic Chemistry Laboratory 2: CHE 2149
Organic chemistry is simply the chemistry of the element carbon. No other element demonstrates the versatility of the element carbon in chemical bonding. The one property unique to carbon is that there seems to be no limit to the number of carbon atoms that can be bonded to one another in a single molecule! Carbon is also unique in that it can form stable multiple bonds between individual carbon atoms (unlikely for the other elements of the carbon family).
The term organic originally meant substances that are derived from living things but should no longer be confused with that definition—It was once thought that carbon based compounds such as sugar, plant oils, waxes, etc. could only come from living things and were given the name organic. Inorganic was applied to substances such as rocks and minerals and materials derived from them. However, with the first synthesis of urea in the nineteenth century from ammonium cyanate(an inorganic compound), the definition of organic had to be revised (formation of urea is how ammonia, from the metabolism of amino acids, is stored in animals until excreted).
The definition of organic chemistry is well established in science, but in the common vernacular, the term organic still is confusing especially in a conversation between a chemist and a nonchemist. The term organic still conveys the concept of natural, or living in the common vernacular as opposed to man-made, artificial or synthetic. However, water is natural but does not have any carbon. Therefore, in the strictest scientific sense water is inorganic. Furthermore, Teflon is a synthetic polymer used in various applications including non-stick cookware, but teflon is an organic compound in the scientific sense because it contains carbon. Many misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if one's definitions were clearly outlined!
Organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon compounds such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals (fuels, gasoline, alcohols), foods, plastics, polymers, textiles, adhesives, resins, dyes, proteins, and the nucleic acids. Organic chemistry provides the chemical foundation for courses such as biochemistry, polymers, molecular biology and other life sciences, and even advanced inorganic chemistry. Mastery of organic chemistry is essential for chemistry or biology majors wishing to pursue careers in the chemical industry, science, science education, and the health or medical professions. As such, this course is designed specially for these students, but make no mistake this is a hard-core chemistry course. The course is not offered to meet the general education requirements of the University. This course is challenging and fast-paced in order to cover the material needed to provide students with sufficient knowledge and expertise in organic chemistry to perform well on the GRE, MCAT, ACS, and other exams. Whether we like it or not, graduate schools and medical schools are interested in student performance in organic chemistry and expect a certain base level of material to be covered in two semesters.
In the first semester (CHE 2331) the student is introduced to the fascinating field of organic chemistry. We review the basic information from general chemistry necessary for understanding organic chemistry such as hybrid orbitals and equilibrium constants. Then we tackle nomenclature of the alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alkyl halides and alcohols and the reactions each can undergo (free-radical substitution, nucleophilic substitution, SN1 and SN2, and elimination reactions, E1 and E2, and oxidation of alcohols).
The second semester (CHE 2341) is a continuation of the first with an emphasis on spectroscopy (IR, MS, NMR, and UV), and multistep syntheses involving further reactions of alcohols, electrophilic aromatic substitution, nucleophilic aromatic substitution, carbonyl chemistry, amine chemistry, and biological molecules, if time permits.
This course is challenging and fast-paced in order to cover the material needed to provide students with sufficient knowledge and expertise in organic chemistry to perform well on the GRE, MCAT, ACS, and other exams. Whether we like it or not, graduate schools and medical schools are interested in student performance in organic chemistry and expect a certain base level of material to be covered in two semesters.
At Howard Payne University, the organic student receives the same instruction that should be found in any organic classroom at any university, but our classes are smaller allowing the student to receive classroom instruction directly from a professor rather than a teaching assistant. Also, the student has greater access to the professor outside of the classroom than might be found at a larger university.
In the laboratory we emphasize green chemistry wherever possible. We do not want a large portion of our budget going for waste disposal. However, most of industrial chemistry is done on a large scale; therefore, instead of simply decreasing the scale of the reaction to decrease the waste, we have chosen most of our laboratories from sources emphasizing either environmentally friendly reactants or environmentally friendly waste products so that many experiments can be done larger than microscale. For example, bleach can be used in the oxidation of some alcohols, but the by-product is table salt that may be disposed in the laboratory sink instead hauling to an expensive waste disposal facility. By law the institution that produces any waste is responsible for that waste forever! Therefore, it is preferable not to use reactions that produce any harmful waste, wherever and whenever possible!
Safety and Recrystallization
Melting and Boiling Points
Computers in Chemistry
Steam Distillation
Literature Search and Molecular Modeling
Chromatography
Synthesis of 1-Bromobutane
Solvolysis of t-Butyl Chloride
Alkenes from Alcohols
Tests for Alkenes and Alkanes
Oxidation of 9-Fluorenol with Acidic Alumina and KMnO4
Synthesis of Benzopinacol and Pinacolone Rearrangement
IR Spectroscopy
Mass Spectroscopy
NMR Spectroscopy
UV-Vis spectroscopy
Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution-Iodination of Vanillin
Aldol Condensation
Saponification of Oil of Wintergreen
Synthesis of Orange II dye
Synthesis of Aspirin
Plastics and Polymerization
Qualitative Organic Analysis