CHEM 211 Organic Chemistry I with Laboratory

Course Description

In Chemistry 211, laboratory students will investigate the world of organic chemistry while learning various reactions and a wide range of laboratory techniques and instruments.

Students will become familiar with the nomenclature and behavior of organic functional groups through reactions and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy). Various reactions including nucleophilic substitution, dehydration and oxidation will be used to synthesize new compounds from starting materials.

Students will be given the opportunity to work on two projects in the course of the lab. The first is a 3-part experiment in which two unknown compounds will be identified using the collection of physical property data (melting points, boiling points, infrared spectroscopy, refractometry and polarimetry data), reaction chemistry (classification tests) and a partner. The second is a synthetic experiment that the student designs on her own, using knowledge she has gained throughout the semester. The purpose of this experiment is for the student to create a hypothesis and to see if her hypothesis will be supported experimentally.

Students will be able to utilize a variety of instruments, including gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, in addition to FTIR to help determine the success of their reactions. New organic laboratory techniques such as TLC (thin layer chromatography), column chromatography, extraction, and fractional distillation will also be used.

Prerequisite: 105 or 120 or permission of the department.

Distribution: Natural and Physical Science

Semester: Fall, Spring

Unit: 1.25