DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

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

Science and the Scientist: How we communicate complex ideas, from comic books to journal articles (Fall 2021; Veronica Berns)

How we communicate complex ideas, from comic books to journal articles: exploring effective scientific communication through graphic novels: 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 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.

What's So Special About Nanomaterials? (Fall 2021; Katherine Gesmundo)

Over the past 20 years, nanotechnology has been a booming area of research in chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, and medicine. Modern techniques have allowed scientists to better study small materials, and the nanotech we read about in science fiction novels can now become real products found in our world. In this seminar, we will discuss what is so special about the size range of 1-100 nm (the nanoscale) and why particles of this size have such a unique niche in nature and technology. We will explore the properties of these materials and why quantum mechanical effects allow for this scale to be so important. Discussions of medicines, electronics, catalysts, additives, and imaging agents that include nanoparticles will allow us to explore the wide range of current directions of nanotechnology. As we look to future applications, we will debate the implications of these materials on the environment, human health, and safety. Regulatory bodies in the United States and around the globe have discussed the ethical and social impact of nanomaterials, and we will investigate their role is assuring the nanomaterials we use leave a positive impact on the world.

Sustainability Meets Environmental Justice (Winter 2022, Shelby Hatch)

Environmental (justice) events continuously pepper the headlines – including these from the past week: “Chemical Giant Escaped Paying for Its Pollution”, “Dozens Drown in India and Nepal as Monsoon Season Fails to End” and “As Drought Conditions Worsen, California Expands State of Emergency.” These occurrences and others - including local ones - will be foregrounded in class readings, discussions, field trips, and assignments. What sustainable solutions are available to mitigate such disasters? What actions can we take to prevent future ones? How can the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and Engineering be utilized to create a more sustainable future for all? Students will examine behaviors of individuals and institutions, analyzing how those actions contribute to the success or failure of a sustainable and environmentally just future. Students will use various forms of media to communicate their findings to the Northwestern community and beyond, culminating in student-directed projects and presentations.

The Science Behind Oppression (Spring 2022, Stephanie Knezz)

Biased interpretations of scientific results have been used to justify racial and gender oppression for centuries. It was often argued that people of different races and different genders were fundamentally different, and as such their roles in society should differ as well. Today, many people reject the claim that race and gender have substantial effect on a person’s abilities or capacity, but how did we get here? More importantly, how did science help facilitate these claims in the first place?
In this course, we will explore the role of science in historical oppression based on race and gender. We will identify key scientific studies and their subsequent legacy to reveal the precarious nature of scientific interpretation in the hands of biased individuals. We will discuss how power structures can infiltrate scientific integrity and propose safeguards to prevent this kind of infiltration in the future.

Chemistry laboratory techniques applied to materials science and nanotechnology, acid-base chemistry, and chemical kinetics. Planning, data collection, interpretation, and reporting on experiments.  

Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 132-0 lecture course.

Prerequisite: CHEM 131-0 and CHEM 141-0 (C- or better in both courses). 

Foundational concepts in organic chemistry will be introduced. Topics include structure and properties of common functional groups, acidity/basicity, conformational analysis, stereochemistry, and reactivity of organic compounds.  The chemistry of hydrocarbons, alkyl halides, and alcohols, ethers, and carbonyl compounds will be included.

Prerequisite: 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* permission of department by placement exam. Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 235-1.

An introduction to basic techniques of instrumental analysis such as gas and high performance liquid chromatography, uv/visible, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, elemental analysis by ICP atomic emission spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and differential scanning calorimetry. You will learn the theories behind these techniques in class lectures and you will learn to operate these instruments and analyze data from them in the lab.

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* equivalent (C- or better in all listed courses).

Advanced concepts in modern organic chemistry will be introduced.  The material will focus on recent developments in synthetic organic chemistry, including:  concerted/pericyclic reactions, catalysis, green/environmental chemistry, automated synthesis, and combinatorial/screening methods. Additional topics will include an introduction to materials and polymer chemistry.

Prerequisite: CHEM 215-2 and CHEM 235-2 *or* CHEM 212-2 and CHEM 232-2 (C– or better in both courses). Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 215-3 or CHEM 212-3.

Biosynthetic chemistry as basis for survey of major classes of biomolecules, carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids, nucleotides, nucleic acids, and proteins. Current topics in bioorganic chemistry. Prerequisite: 215-3 or 212-3 (C- or better); and 1 quarter of biology; or consent of instructor.

This course connects macroscopic properties (342-1) to molecular properties (342-2). The topics include the Boltzmann distribution, partition functions, distribution functions, macroscopic properties, theories for kinetics, and experimental methods.

Prerequisites: CHEM 342-1 and CHEM 342-2 (C- or better).

 The third course in the 350 sequence covers the very important topic of spectroscopy from a physical chemistry point of view. It deals with the use of various spectroscopic techniques (FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, uv/visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy) for structure determination of gas and liquid phase molecules and for kinetics measurements. In addition, you will be asked to design and carry out a 4-week research project at the end of the quarter based on some aspect of course material in the entire CHEM 350 sequence.

Prerequisites: CHEM 342-2 or equivalent and CHEM 350-2 (C- or better).

By the end of this course you will expected to have obtained a general understanding of many commonly used measurement techniques available to augment research at Northwestern. It features two weeks of classroom-based instruction on experimental design and analysis; supplemented by NIH Rigor And Reproducibility Training Modules. This overview will be followed by a combination of lectures and labs addressing a broad range of analytical techniques and imaging methods. These lessons will then be applied to inquiry-based learning in Northwestern's advanced instrumentation cores. In addition to lecture, students are expected to devise two Mini-Research Projects and will work on one of these with senior staff to apply specific services and protocols utilizing instrumentation available within Research Cores and University Centers. Students will design specific experiments in selected areas of their interest, and learn new sample preparation methods and instrumentation within one of the following areas: mass spectrometry; proteomics, in vivo and molecular imaging, small molecule synthesis and purification; high-throughput screening, x-ray crystallography, and analysis of bioelements. Material generated in the class counts for course credit will be usable in research group settings.

This course focuses on fundamental principles of light-mattering interactions and their applications in advanced experimental spectroscopic methods. In the Spring quarter of 2021, the class will cover time dependent Schrödinger equation, Fermi golden rule, perturbation theory, system-bath interactions, as well as spectroscopic methods (pump-probe, fluorescence upconversion, multidimensional spectroscopy, X-ray absorption/emission and time-resolved terahertz spectroscopies). Application examples will be discussed with emphasis on chemical science