All About Instruction

Each course has a specific set of student learning outcomes. Throughout the course, we will work together to accomplish these learning outcomes so that you will gain a better understanding of chemistry as it relates to the natural world.

A general set of topics covered, prerequisites, and course learning outcomes for each course is outlined below. Note that this list may be subject to minor changes.

Topics in CHEM 211

In CHEM 211, we will be exploring topics in lecture that include:

• organic molecule nomenclature and characterization

• arrow-pushing fundamentals towards predicting and proposing reaction outcomes

• reactions of alkyl halides, alcohols, ethers, epoxides, and radicals

The laboratories will supplement your lecture experience with hands-on experiments involving concepts learned in lecture. You will also learn how to safely and independently operate chemical instrumentation used to synthesize and characterize organic molecules. Your participation in collaborative learning will help you learn, analyze, and assign reaction outcomes.

Prerequisites

You will learn many interesting concepts in CHEM 211. To ensure that you will be a successful student in CHEM 211, you should have completed:

• CHEM 102 (or equivalent) with a "C" or better

• Intermediate Reading & Comprehension (strongly encouraged)

Note that CHEM 211 does not involve much math. 

The most successful students in CHEM 211:

• apply general chemistry concepts towards predicting reactivity

• recognize patterns in reactivity and apply them towards new reactions

Course Learning Outcomes

Ater successfully completing CHEM 211, you will be better at:

• Chemical Synthesis: analyzing the structure of carbon-containing compounds to predict reactivity and propose valid and logical arrow-pushing mechanisms and syntheses.

• Laboratory Skills: synthesize molecules safetly and independently using chemical apparatus and characterize them using melting / boiling point and spectroscopy (IR, NMR, mass spectroscopy).

• Macroscopic & Molecular Connections: Understanding the structure of some common chemicals in the natural world and its properties and synthesis.