Chemistry 303b is a new offering in the Chemistry Department, designed to give students a choice in the style and content of Organic Chemistry I. It is designed to mesh smoothly with Chemistry 304b, Organic Chemistry II, and does not preclude continuation into Chem 304X instead. Chemistry 303b is not a complete course in organic chemistry.

CONTENT:

Organic Chemistry I will present the basic concepts of organic chemistry, and assumes no previous background in this subject. The level of the course will be the same as for Chemistry 303X. It is expected that the topics and style will overlap with the interests of biology majors and premedical students. As in Chemistry 303X, memorization will be de-emphasized (see "Exams" below) and mastering concepts will be the focus. The course will cover the traditional first-semester material, mostly structure, bonding, spectroscopy, and the fundamental building-block reactions of organic chemistry: substitution, addition, and elimination reactions. We will cover approximately 12 chapters in the book. Compared to Chem 303X, there will be an emphasis on molecular association, the weak interactions between molecules that are involved biological processes such as receptor binding and enzyme catalysis. Wherever possible, the concepts will be illustrated with examples from biology.

STAFF:

M. F. Semmelhack taught a course equivalent to the sequence Chemistry 303/304 at Cornell University during 1968-1978. He moved to Princeton in 1978, and has taught Chemistry 303 seven times, most recently in 1994-1996. He also taught Chemistry 201, Chemistry 304B, Chemistry 403 and assorted graduate courses in organic chemistry. His research interests focus on organic synthesis, with applications in biological chemistry. Reviews of his teaching efforts are available in old editions of the Student Course Guide.

Henry Gingrich has been supervising the Orgo lab at Princeton for 10 years and knows everything. hankster@chemvax.princeton.edu

Graduate Teaching Assistants will supervise the lab as usual, and a selected pair will work with Professor Semmelhack in presenting the material in the Classes.

LECTURES:

The lectures will be held MWF at 9:00 am. For each lecture, partially completed notes will be available at this Web Site and will also be handed out. They will serve as the basis of overhead slides for the lecture itself. Attendance at lecture is strongly recommended since the material will diverge from the text at times and the notes will be incomplete unless filled in from the lecture presentation.

CLASSES:

The classes or precepts will be presented by experienced graduate students and Professor Semmelhack, and are designed to amplify the concepts presented in lecture through problem solving and further examples. Once per week, optional.

TEXT:

The texts will be "Organic Chemistry," Maitland Jones, Jr., W. W. Norton, and the Study Guide, also published by Norton, by Jones and Henry L. Gingrich. The Study Guide has elaborate answers to all the unanswered problems in the text, and is very highly recommended. Both books are available from Micawber. The third printings of both the text and the SG are available. If you are using a book or SG from the first or second printings, you should be sure to look up the list of errors/typos at the link on the

main page. These errors have been corrected in the third printing.

The text and lectures/problem sessions are separate parts of the course. There will be material covered at length in the book that I mention only in passing in lecture and vice versa. I will give out general chapter and page listings, but these are meant to be neither inclusive nor exclusive. You are expected to learn to forage widely in your readings, using the index as well as looking up material in other texts. For example, Marc Loudon's fine Text, "Organic Chemistry," Third Ed., Addison-Wesley, is on reserve in the

Chemistry Department Library, and can be profitably consulted for another view on things.

 

MODELS:

Darling models are available at Micawber. Other kinds of models work fine, too. We chose Darling because better ones are much much more expensive.

EXAMS:

There will be three exams during the semester, of which the best two will be averaged into the final grade, together accounting for 40%. The final examination will count 40%, and the laboratory will add in 20%. In order to minimize the role of memorization, the examinations will be "OPEN NOTES", which means you can use for the exams anything which is not alive. While this may sound like a drastic difference from the conventional Orgo exams, you will find that it makes little difference but perhaps adds a sense of security that you can look up some odd fact if necessary.

PROBLEM SETS:

There will be a problem set handed out each week. It will be important to work these diligently, especially as the material diverges from the text. They will not be graded, but several will be required to be turned in just to reinforce the sense that it is important to do them regularly.

 

WWW:

Problems sets, reading assignments, exam answers, assorted handouts, as well as random exhortations and announcements will be distributed on the Chemistry 303b

page on the www. For the url see below. Check often.

EMAIL:

There will be a course email list which I will use for immediate communications. I find it useful to have students send me questions by email and then I can send the answer back to the whole class, if appropriate. Check your email.

 

LABORATORY:

The laboratory will be identical to the lab for Chem 303X. It is under the total control of Dr. Henry L. Gingrich. All questions, demands, threats, etc. concerning the lab must be directed to him. The laboratory will be graded, and the grade will count 20% of your final grade in the course. It is possible to fail the lab, and such a failure will strongly affect your ability to pass the course.

 

GRADING:

The final grade distribution will be approximately the same as has been historically the case for Chemistry 303, with about 60% As and Bs.

MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Professor Semmelhack by phone, email, or a visit.

M. F. Semmelhack tel 258-5501 email: mfshack@princeton.edu

Rm 67 Frick Lab (behind the Orgo Lab)

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Last Updated November 16, 1998
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