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). 

Pericyclic reactions, functional group participation, rearrangements, fragmentations, radical reactions, synthesis and reactions of carbenes and nitrenes, the synthesis and chemistry of synthetic polymers, and the bioorganic chemistry of carbohydrates, nucleosides, nucleotides, nucleic acids, amino acids, peptides, and lipids. Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 235-3. 

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

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.

In this course, students will gain a solid understanding of the science, economics, and more importantly the environmental impact associated with various technologies, including, but not limited to natural gas, nuclear, wind, etc. Climate change and the potential impact and mitigation will be considered throughout the course.

Prerequisites: CHEM 215-2 or CHEM 212-3 (C- or better); MATH 230-2; PHYSICS 135-1 and PHYSICS 135-2; or consent of instructor.

Taught with CHEM 406. Undergraduates should enroll in CHEM 306, unless they are officially completing the BA/MS program.

The aim of this course is to make students familiar with the recent developments in the field of bioorganic chemistry/chemical biology. This is a relatively new field of science that transcends the areas of chemistry, biology, medicine, and drug discovery. The major dogma in this field is to use principles of chemistry to provide answers to fundamental questions in biology and advance human medicine. Particular emphasis in this field is placed on designing chemical probes and chemical reactions and use those molecules/reactions to study basic biological processes. This course is suited for graduate students and undergraduate students majoring in chemistry, chemical and biological engineering, biomedical engineering, and biology.

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).

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.

The aim of this course is to study the application of modern computer technology, in combination with theoretical chemistry methods, to molecular problems.