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.

Solution strategies for traditional word problems and their application to basic chemistry quantitative problems: dimensional analysis, chemical equations, stoichiometry, limiting reagents, gas laws, and thermochemistry. 

Students with an AP Chem score of 5 or an IB (HL) Chem score of 7 are not eligible to take this course.

Prerequisite: permission of department via Initial Chemistry Assessment. 

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

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

Chemical analysis of real samples using basic laboratory techniques including titration, colorimetric analysis, density measurements, and atomic spectroscopy. Planning, data collection, interpretation, and reporting on these experiments. Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 151-0 lecture course.

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.

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.

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.

Fundamental concepts in organic chemistry will be covered.  The topics will include important functional groups and will include: nomenclature, structure, properties, and multi-step synthesis. Reaction mechanisms for organic transformations will be presented, and synthesis strategies will be covered. The chemistry of pi systems and aromatic ring system, amines, and carboxylic acids and their derivatives, and enol/enolate species will be included.

Prerequisite: CHEM 215-1 and CHEM 235-1 (C– or better). Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 235-2.

Standard laboratory techniques in organic chemistry will be covered. Techniques will focus on the isolation and purification of organic compounds as well as the use of spectroscopic methods to determine identity and purity. The results of the technique-based modules will be communicated by completion of short on-line worksheets. One complete organic experiment, including reaction set-up, product isolation, and preparation of samples for characterization will be performed. The results of the complete experiment will be communicated in a full formal lab report.

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 215-1.

Standard laboratory techniques in organic chemistry will be covered. Techniques will focus on the isolation and purification of organic compounds as well as the use of spectroscopic methods to determine identity and purity. The results of the technique-based modules will be communicated by completion of short on-line worksheets. One complete organic experiment, including reaction set-up, product isolation, and preparation of samples for characterization will be performed. The results of the complete experiment will be communicated in a full formal lab report.

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 215-1.

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. Prerequisite: CHEM 333. Registration in this class is restricted to chemistry majors and minors.  Other students may register with instructor permission.

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 presentation skills. Prerequisites: CHEM 215-3 or CHEM 212-3 (C- or better).

Taught with CHEM 413. 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 132 and CHEM 142 *or* CHEM 152 and CHEM 162 *or* CHEM 172 and CHEM 182 (C- or better in all listed classes); MATH 230-1; PHYSICS 135-1/136-1 and PHYSICS 135-2/136-2 (students may take Physics 135-2 concurrently).

Elucidation of organic and organometallic reaction mechanisms: experiment, theory, and selected case studies.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

-Identify reasonable reaction pathways for organic and organometallic transformations.
-Qualitatively interpret potential energy surfaces.
-Derive rate laws for multistep reactions, including catalytic reactions.
-Have familiarity with the tools of mechanistic analysis, including kinetic analysis, linear free energy relationships, isotopic labeling, Eyring analysis,
competition experiments, crossover experiments, radical clocks, and use of stereochemical information.
-Identify experiments that would allow the differentiation of possible reaction mechanisms.
-Search and read the primary literature.
-Orally summarize and critically analyze journal articles.
-Write about reaction mechanism with clarity and precision.

Prerequisite: full year of organic chemistry or by permission of the instructor. 

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

Prerequisites: full year of organic chemistry or by permission of the instructor.

This graduate-level course develops a quantitative framework for characterizing equilibrium states of chemical, physical, and biological systems. The emphasis throughout will be on connecting behavior at macroscopic length scales, where most observations take place, and microscopic length scales, where material properties originate. Students should come away with a visceral understanding of: entropy, free energies, the relationships between statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, and phase transitions. The topics are intrinsically technical and rely on some mathematical tools that may be unfamiliar, but effort will be made to keep things as simple as possible (and no simpler). To aid with the intuitive understanding, we will make use of computational techniques for simulating and visualizing these concepts, which will require that students have (or develop) some familiarity with basic computer programming.