Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2011-2012 (archived)

Module CHEM2031: STRUCTURE AND REACTIVITY IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Department: Chemistry

CHEM2031: STRUCTURE AND REACTIVITY IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Type	Open	Level	2	Credits	20	Availability	Available in 2011/12	Module Cap	None.	Location	Durham

Prerequisites

Core Chemistry 1A (CHEM1012).

Corequisites

Core Chemistry 2 (CHEM2012).

Excluded Combination of Modules

None.

Aims

To enhance understanding of the relationship between structure and reactivity (mechanisms) in organic compounds.

Content

Physical organic chemistry.
Ring chemistry and stereochemistry: small, normal and medium sized rings.
Ring synthesis.
Practical work.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

Rationalize the outcome of organic reactions by means of kinetics and isotopic labelling experiments.
Apply kinetics to complex reaction schemes and use linear free energy relationships to predict reactivity.
Rationalize the relative stabilities and properties of different sized organic ring systems and relate these to their ease of formation and corresponding methods of synthesis.
Rationalize and describe the conformations of common ring systems and their effect upon reactivity.
Rationalize and describe key aspects of the stereoelectronics of ring systems with particular reference to the anomeric effect and ring cyclization (Baldwin's rules).

Subject-specific Skills:

Perform more complex experiments in organic chemistry.

Key Skills:

Group working, encouraged and developed through tutorial teaching.
Written communication, advanced through the use of essay type questions in lecture-support worksheets and laboratory reports.
Problem-solving, developed through tutorial worksheets.
Numerical skills acquired through calculations required in practical experiments and in the analysis of data collected in laboratory assignments.

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 the best method to assess the knowledge of the students.
Tutorials are given to ensure that the students have grasped the concepts given in the lectures and to practice examples of problems. The work is formatively assessed.
Workshops are larger groups of students where problems are considered and common difficulties shared. This ensures that students have understood the work and can apply it to real life situations. 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
Lectures	20	1 per week	1 Hour	20
Tutorials	6	3 per term	1 Hour	6	■
Workshops	2	2 in Term 3	1.5 Hours	3	■
Practicals	20	4 per week in Term 1	3 Hours	60	■
Preparation and Reading				111
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component: Examination		Component Weighting: 65%
Element	Length / duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Written examination	Two hours	100%	Two hour written examination
Component: Laboratory Work		Component Weighting: 35%
Element	Length / duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
results of laboratory work		100%	One hour written examination

Formative Assessment:

Set work in preparation for tutorials and workshops.

■ 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