Chemistry 2BA3 - Organic Chemistry A F. Capretta phone: ext ...

Chemistry 2BA3 - Organic Chemistry A
F. Capretta phone: ext. 27318
ABB-261A e-mail: capretta@mcmaster.ca
Office Hours: Wednesday between 2:30-5:30 pm. (Other times by appointment.)
Course Webpage on McMaster’s WebCT
Lectures: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30
Outline
The course textbook is Organic Chemistry by Solomons & Fryhle and the lectures will be based on
the following (time permitting):
Week Dates (Week
beginning..)
Chapter Topic
1 September 5, 2005 1 Chemical Bonding
2 September 12, 2005 1 & 2 Functional Groups
3 September 19, 2005 2 & 3 Acids and Bases
4 September 26, 2005 4 Conformational Analysis
5 October 3, 2005 4 & 5 Stereochemistry
6 October 10, 2005 5 Stereochemistry
7 October 17, 2005 5 & 6 Substitution and Elimination
8 October 24, 2005 6 Substitution and Elimination
9 October 31, 2005 7 Alkenes & Alkynes
10 November 7, 2005 8 Alkenes & Alkynes
11 November 14, 2005 11 Alcohols and Ethers
12 November 21, 2005 11& 12 Carbonyls / Oxidation /Reduction
13 November 28, 2005 12 Carbonyls / Oxidation /Reduction
The Thursday lectures will be devoted to discussions of techniques introduced in the labs (distillation,
recrystallization, chromatography) and spectroscopic methods presented in Chapters 2 and 9 (IR,
NMR, MS).
Assessment
Assignments (4) 10%
Term Tests (2) 30%
Laboratory 20%
Final exam 40%
Assignments: A series of questions designed to apply the concepts presented in class. In order to
insure that assignments are graded prior to tests and that answers to assignments can be posted
quickly, LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. If you cannot meet a deadline, please
see me in advance (NOT ON THE DATE THE WORK IS DUE).

Handed Out Handed In
Assignment 1 Sept. 16 Sept. 23
Assignment 2 Sept. 30 Oct. 7
Assignment 3 Oct. 28 Nov. 4
Assignment 4 Nov. 18 Nov. 25
Term Tests: NOTE THAT THE TEST DATES ARE TENTATIVE AND WILL BE CONFIRMED IN
CLASS. Ninety minutes each to be held on Wednesday, October 12th and Wednesday, November
9th at 7:00 pm. Students who miss a term test for a valid reason AND who have the Dean's
permission (see below) will have their final exam increased by the value of the term test.
Labs: The Laboratory grade for the organic experiments is composed of two marks, written
laboratory reports and a practical mark which is assigned by the teaching assistant on the basis of
each student’s performance in the laboratory. The TAs are asked to evaluate students on the basis
of preparation, knowledge of material, organization in the laboratory, and technique. The practical
mark will be assigned at the end of term.
Labs begin on the week of September 12th (lab lecture and check-in). Check your timetable for
locations and times.
Laboratory Manual is available on the course web-site.
Note that each lab is a separate .pdf file. Your will need a suitable program (such as Adobe Acrobat)
to view these files. More info on-line.
Although a timetable for handing in labs will be determined by your demonstrator, all labs must be
submitted by the last day of classes. Failure to meet this deadline will result in the award of a mark of
zero for the lab in question. All missed labs must have a Dean's Permission Slip. All laboratory work
must be completed with a passing grade in order to pass the course.
Missed Assignments and Tests: Failure to hand in an assignment, complete a laboratory experiment
or write term test will result in a zero grade, unless a valid reason has been filed with and accepted
by the Associate Dean's office. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that medical slips, etc.
are filed with the Dean. The instructor will not make any exemption decisions under any
circumstances.
Final: Examination to take place in December. A passing grade must be attained in the final
examination to pass the course.
Odds and Ends:
• Additional reference material will be held on reserve for the course.
• Molecular models are recommended
• Lecture notes will be made available on-line
Academic dishonesty:
Academic dishonesty consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent means and
can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a
notation on the transcript (notation reads: “Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty”), and/or
suspension or expulsion from the university.

It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the
various kinds of academic dishonesty, please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically
Appendix 3, located at
http://www.mcmaster.ca/senate/academic/ac_integrity.htm
The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:
1. Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not one’s own or for which other credit has been
obtained. For example, submitting someone else’s lab report and results.
2. Improper collaboration in group work. For example, submitting assignments containing
answers generated by a group.
3. Copy or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.

Organic Chemistry is the branch of chemistry dealing with the compounds of carbon. While it is only
the fourteenth most common element on earth, carbon forms by far the greatest number of different
compounds. Organic chemistry is of vital importance to the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, polymer
and textile industries, where a prime concern is the synthesis of new organic molecules and
polymers. Knowledge of the structure, functionality, and reactivity of organic molecules is critical for
the understanding of numerous and disparate phenomena, from biological and biochemical
processes (enzyme-substate interactions), to medicine (pharmaceuticals), to the properties of
materials (polymers). This course covers the basic and fundamental principles of organic chemistry,
then builds on these concepts in Chemistry 2BB3. Topics covered include the utilization of
spectroscopic techniques in elucidating chemical structure, aspects of kinetics and thermodynamics
within organic chemistry, mechanisms of organic transformations, stereochemistry, nucleophilic
substitution and elimination reactions, conformational analysis, functional group manipulation and
carbon-carbon bonding forming reactions. This course provides the necessary fundamental
knowledge to begin understanding the reactivity of organic molecules, mechanisms of important
reactions, and the methods by which numerous organic structures can be synthesized.
Some of the topics covered include (all Images taken from the course textbook Organic Chemistry by
Solomons & Fryhle (8 th Edition, Wiley, 2005):
Bonding and Hybridization

Understanding Reactivity
Conformational Analysis

Stereochemistry
Reactions and Synthesis

Mechanisms
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy