Module CHEM4321: CONTEMPORARY CHEMISTRY

Department: Chemistry

CHEM4321: CONTEMPORARY CHEMISTRY

Prerequisites

• Core Chemistry 3 (CHEM3012) AND two from CHEM3021, CHEM3031 and CHEM3041.

Corequisites

• Core Chemistry 4 (CHEM4311).

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Bioactive Chemistry 4 (CHEM4211) OR Chemical Physics 4 (CHEM4411) OR Chemistry and Society (CHEM3061).

Aims

• To demonstrate the unified nature of chemistry by using modern applications that incorporate aspects of all branches of the subject.

Content

• Supramolecular and Nanoscale Systems*: binding and equilibria; control at the nanometre scale; liquid crystals.
• Medicinal chemistry*: drug classifications; molecular targets for drug action; pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; strategies for drug discovery and development; computational chemistry.
• Macromolecular chemistry:* configuration; thermodynamics of polymer systems; elasticity; synthesis; blends, blocks and self-assembly in polymer systems.
• [*Each student will follow two of the three lecture courses.].

Learning Outcomes

• After attending the relevant lecture courses, students should be able to:
• understand the role of molecular structure and intermolecular interactions in determining the properties of molecular assemblies and materials.
• understand the relationship between the size or scale of an assembly and the bulk processes of a material.
• classify drugs according to their site and mode of action and critically discuss the relationships between structure and activity.
• describe methods by which drugs may be discovered, optimised and formulated.
• use molecular modelling packages to predict the mode of action of certain classes of compounds.
• understand the quantitative description of the three dimensional distribution of polymer molecules and use this description to explain retractive forces in elastomers;
• distinguish between major synthetic routes to polymer molecules and describe the characteristic features of each;
• know how to use chemical thermodynamics to predict phase behaviour in polymer blends and solutions;
• describe phase diagrams and microstructures for block copolymers.

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

• Facts and new concepts are introduced in the lecture courses.
• Students' knowledge is tested by examination.
• Undergraduates are aided in the learning process by workshops where they attempt sample problems and office hours where staff are available to answer any queries about the lecture courses.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Workshop problems.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University