DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

What will it take to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050? (Winter 2024; Ted Sargent)

"Rapid action to reduce energy-related emissions will be required to limit the scale – and the impact on human society – of global warming.

​Using readings made available in Canvas, we will learn about, discuss, and write and present on topics such as:

• What are the major sources of emissions contributing to anthropogenic global warming?
• To what extent can the behavior of individuals, and of large emitters (e.g. industry), reduce such emissions – and how can policy, education/information, and technology, each impact such behavior?
• What technologies – examples include electric vehicles, large-scale energy storage, advances in solar wind hydroelectric and nuclear, and the production of green hydrogen – are coming online today and in the coming decade, and how fast can they scale?
•  What further solutions – such as for CO2 capture, sequestration, and/or utilization – will we require to reach net zero, and what scientific/R&D questions will we have to tackle to enable these solutions

Quantum mechanics, electronic structure, periodic properties of elements, chemical bonding, thermodynamics, intermolecular forces, properties of solids and liquids, solutions and colligative properties. Must be taken concurrently with the Chem 141-0 laboratory course. 

Prerequisite: Chem 110-0 (C- or better). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

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 experiments. Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 131-0.

Prerequisite: CHEM 110-0 (C- or better). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Chemical equilibrium, aqueous solution equilibria, chemical kinetics, metals in chemistry and biology, oxidation-reduction reactions and electrochemistry. Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 162-0 laboratory course. 

Prerequisites: CHEM 151-0 and CHEM 161-0 (C- or better in both courses). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

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 152-0 lecture course.

Prerequisites: CHEM 151-0 and CHEM 161-0 (C- or better in both courses). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Study of the physical chemistry (acid-base chemistry, kinetics, etc.) behind the operating principles of biosensors. Planning, data collection, interpretation, and reporting on these experiments. Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 172-0 lecture course.

Prerequisites: CHEM 171-0 and CHEM 181-0 (C- or better in both courses). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Fundamental concepts in organic chemistry will be covered. The topics will include important functional groups and will include: nomenclature, structure, properties, and multistep synthesis. Reaction mechanisms for organic transformations will be presented, and synthesis strategies will be covered.

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

Primarily for chemistry majors and students in ISP. The chemistry of aromatic, carbonyl, and nitrogen compounds; characterization of organic substances by chemical and spectral methods; reaction mechanisms. Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 237-2 laboratory course. 

Prerequisites: CHEM 217-1 and CHEM 237-1 (C- or better in both courses). Students may not receive credit for both CHEM 217-2 and 212-2.

Complete laboratory experiments focusing on standard synthetic organic chemistry will be conducted each week. Students will complete a prelab worksheet including stoichiometric calculations, prediction of reaction outcome, and identification of safety protocols.

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

Primarily for chemistry majors and students in ISP. Techniques of modern organic chemistry including NMR spectroscopy and reactions such as electrophilic aromatic substitution, esterification, Grignard reaction, aldol condensation, Robinson annulation, and Diels-Alder reaction. Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 217-2 lecture course.

Prerequisite: CHEM 217-1 and CHEM 237-1 (C- or better in both courses)

The design of synthetic routes to natural products and other medicinally relevant organic compounds will be covered in detail. Retrosynthetic analysis, substructure keying, and pattern recognition, along with other methods for synthetic planning will be discussed within the context of specific case studies. Classic and modern organic reactions, including asymmetric synthesis and catalysis, will be introduced and their application in synthetic planning examined. Case studies will include the synthesis of terpenes, alkaloids, polyketides, steroids, proteins and pharmaceuticals. The end result should be that students are familiar with the important issues associated with synthesis and gain intimate knowledge of a wide variety of chemical reactions. Ultimately, when presented with a given molecule, students should be able to develop a reasonable synthesis plan based on firm ideas and reliable transformations. Prerequisites: CHEM 215-3 or CHEM 212-3 or CHEM 217-3 (C- or better).

Taught with CHEM 419. Undergraduates should enroll in CHEM 319, unless they are completing the BA/MS program.

In this course you will study advanced techniques of synthetic inorganic chemistry including synthesis of zeolites, MOFs, and bioinorganic compounds and use of a Schlenk line. In addition, you will learn instrumental analysis techniques relevant to analysis of samples in materials chemistry. These techniques will include X-ray crystallography, solid state NMR spectroscopy, electrochemistry, atomic spectroscopy, and a variety of polymer characterization techniques (MALDI-TOF MS, NMR spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, DSC). Some of these analytical techniques may be used to analyze the inorganic samples you prepare in the course.

Prerequisites: CHEM 333 and CHEM 350-1 (C- or better), or equivalent.

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 course will include topics covering the whole of inorganic chemistry from biological inorganic chemistry, coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, solid state chemistry, materials chemistry and nanoscience.  Using the three major reference works Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry,  Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry ,  and Comprehensive Coordination Chemistry,  this large body of work covering the whole of modern inorganic chemistry will be introduced through the writings of teams of leading experts. This course will highlight the commonality and differences between extended and molecular inorganic structures and the many thousands of compounds and materials that chemists have made,  and which we continue to make at a rapidly accelerating rate, from the different elements of the Periodic Table.  

This graduate level course explores the microscopic dynamics at atomic and molecular levels that give rise to the macroscopic chemical kinetics that are typically understood by a rate of a chemical reaction or process. The course covers both elementary dynamics occurring in gas phases and the more complex dynamics of molecular ensembles in condensed phase environments and at interfaces.