DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

**First-Year Seminar Courses are Not Open to General Enrollment**

The Scientist and the Science: Exploring Effective Scientific Communication Through Graphic Novels (Fall 2020; Veronica Berns)

Clear and concise communication is highly valued in many STEM fields. Whether conveying the technical details of an experiment for a colleague or translating the impact of a study for the public, scientists need to know how to discuss complex ideas with different audiences. This course analyzes the goals of scientific writing by examining texts that represent different levels of communication, including how to use the visual language of comic books for conveying complex scientific ideas.

The Chemistry of Food (Fall 2020; Owen Priest)

In The Chemistry of Food we will explore the chemistry and science of nutrition, cooking, food preservation, flavoring, coloring, and aroma. We will explore the science of salt, sugar & high fructose corn syrup, leavening agents, microwaves, proteins, and fats. What is the science behind genetically modified foods and why is it so controversial? What is celiac disease and gluten sensitivity? Is gluten sensitivity real? What does the science say?

Sustainability Meets Environmental Justice (Winter 2021, Shelby Hatch)

In this course, we will explore how issues of race and class shape our views of these concepts. Northwestern University is currently about halfway through its first five-year strategic sustainability plan. This plan will serve as a starting point for discussing various issues of sustainability such as the built environment, transportation, and resource conservation. We will delve into the chemistry behind sustainable design with a particular eye toward how the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering are applied.

TBD (Spring 2021, TBD)

Quantum mechanics, electronic structure, periodic properties of the elements, chemical bonding, thermodynamics, gas laws, intermolecular forces, properties of solids and liquids, and special topics in modern chemistry. Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 161-0 laboratory course. 

Prerequisite: permission of department via Initial Chemistry Assessment. 

Please contact chemhelp@northwestern.edu regarding permission and/or access to the Initial Chemistry Assessment

Review of mole problems and stoichiometry; descriptive chemistry, elements, compounds, and inorganic reactions; gas laws; phase equilibria and colligative properties; chemical equilibrium; aqueous equilibria; topics in chemical bonding and molecular structure. Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 181-0 laboratory course. 

Prerequisite: Permission of department by placement exam.

Basic concepts of structure, stereochemistry, and reactivity of organic compounds. The chemistry of hydrocarbons and alcohols. 

Prerequisite: CHEM 172-0 and CHEM 182-0 *or* CHEM 152-0 and CHEM 162-0 *or* CHEM 132-0 and CHEM 142-0 *or* CHEM 103-0 and CHEM 123-0(C– or better in all listed courses) *or* permission of department by placement exam.

Basic concepts of structure, stereochemistry, and reactivity of organic compounds. The chemistry of hydrocarbons and alcohols. 

Prerequisite: CHEM 172-0 and CHEM 182-0 *or* CHEM 152-0 and CHEM 162-0 *or* CHEM 132-0 and CHEM 142-0 *or* CHEM 103-0 and CHEM 123-0(C– or better in all listed courses) *or* permission of department by placement exam.

Orbitals, structure of molecules, acid-base Chemistry, introduction to spectroscopic techniques for structure elucidation, the chemistry of the carbonyl group, stereochemistry, and conformational analysis. Designed to be taken by chemistry majors, prospective chemistry majors, and ISP students. Must be taken concurrently with Chem 232-1.

Prerequisites: Chem 103-0 and Chem 123-0 *or* Chem 172-0 and Chem 182-0 *or* Chem 152-0 and Chem 162-0 *or* Chem 132-0 and Chem 142-0 (C– or better in all listed courses) *or*  AP Chem 5 *or* IB (HL) 7 enrollment in ISP *or* permission of department by placement exam.

 This course covers basic concepts in Inorganic Chemistry. It is designed to introduce students in key subjects which are used over and over again in chemistry and uses inorganic chemistry systems to illustrate the concepts. The course covers the donor-acceptor concept, hard-soft acids-bases, advanced concepts of basicity and acidity and acid-base view of salvation phenomena. The course also delves into introductory solid state chemistry including unit cells and the structure of simple solids, structure types and electronic structure and Band Theory (with the aim of understanding properties). 

A certain fraction of the time is also devoted to descriptive chemistry which utilizes the concepts learned in the first part of the course and the focus is generally on main group chemistry. This includes the chemistry of hydrogen and the chemistry of the elements of Group 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16.

Taught with Chem 402. Registration by Chemistry Department placement or by permission of the instructor only.

Strategies and tactics involved in complex target synthesis. Modern reaction classes as applied to chemical synthesis, coupled to in-depth discussion of the underlying key principles of synthesis design and execution, are covered in the class. Students will gain experience in problem solving, creative thinking, structural analysis and writing techniques.

Taught with CHEM 313. Undergraduate students should enroll in CHEM 313, unless officially completing the BA/MS program.

Laws of thermodynamics, thermochemistry, chemical potentials, and solution thermodynamics.

Prerequisites: CHEM 103 and CHEM 123 *or* CHEM 132 and CHEM 142 *or* CHEM 152 and CHEM 162 *or* CHEM 172 and CHEM 182 (C- or better in all listed classes); Math 230; Physics 135-1,2 (students may take Physics 135-2 concurrently).

Introduction to principles and practice of organic and inorganic synthetic compound characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). Topics include NMR instrument operation, spectra interpretation, 2-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, MS ionization and detection schemes, gas chromatography MS, liquid chromatography MS and ionization. The lab component of this class focuses on operations of instrumentation, software tools available in the Integrated Molecular Structure Education and Research Center (IMSERC) and tailoring analytical schemes based on individual research projects.

Chemical applications of group theory and the determination of inorganic and organic molecular and extended structures by modern physical techniques.