This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Undergraduate Handbook 2010-2011 (archived)

Module CHEM3031: ADVANCED ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Department: Chemistry

CHEM3031: ADVANCED ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	3	20	Available in 2010/2011	None.	Durham

Pre-requisites

Core Chemistry 2 (CHEM2012) AND Ring Chemistry (CHEM2031).

Corequisites

Core Chemistry 3 (CHEM3012) OR , for students following the MSci in Biology and Chemistry (FGC0), Bioactive Chemistry 3 (CHEM3211).

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To expand and promote the knowledge of synthetic and mechanistic chemistry.

Content

Catalysis and mechanism: general principles and applications.
Natural product biosynthesis: comparison of synthetic reactions with natural reagents, methods to establish biosynthetic pathways.
Practical work.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Apply physical principles to reveal machanistic information about organic reaction pathways;
evaluate mechanistic data and develop a hypothesis in terms of a plausible reaction pathway;
categorise the different types of catalytic reactions and their respective roles in asymmetric reactions;
understand the role of organocatalysts in a number of asymmetric transformations;
explain how physical methods have established the synthetic methods and roles of metabolites.

Subject-specific Skills

Prepare, purify and identify a range of compounds;
demonstrate time management skills and an ability to plan experimental work.

Key Skills

Problem solving, developed through small group teaching and study;
information retrieval and scientific writing, exercised through assignments for workshops and accounts of laboratory work.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Lectures are used to convey concepts and are examined by written papers. This is thought to be the best method to assess the knowledge of the students.
Workshops are larger groups of students whare problems are considered and common difficulties shared. These are formatively assessed.
Laboratory classes teach students techniques in various aspects of organic chemistry, They are continuously assessed so that the student can learn from one session to the next.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours	Attendance Monitored
Lectures	21	1 per week	1 hour	21
Practicals	20	4 per week in Term 2	3 hours	60	Yes
Workshops	3	1 per Term	1.5 hours	4.50	Yes
Preparation and Reading				114.50
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Examination	65%	Written examination	Two hours	100%
Laboratory Work	35%	results of laboratory work		100%

Formative Assessment

Set work for workshops.

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.