Module CHEM4321: CONTEMPORARY CHEMISTRY

Department: Chemistry

CHEM4321: CONTEMPORARY CHEMISTRY

Prerequisites

• Core Chemistry 3 (CHEM3012) AND two from [Inorganic Concepts and Applications (CHEM3097) OR Advanced Organic Chemistry (CHEM3117) OR Molecules and their Interactions (CHEM3137)].

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

• Inorganic Chemistry and Nanoscale Systems*: Sustainable Chemistry; Nanoscale Chemistry; Liquid Crystal Devices.
• Medicinal chemistry and Catalysis*: Medicinal Chemistry, drug classifications; molecular targets for drug action; pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; strategies for drug discovery and development; computational chemistry; Applied Catalysis and Organocatalysis.
• Polymers and Functional Surfaces:* Advanced polymer synthesis; Functional Surfaces; Macromolecular Physical Chemistry.
• [*Each student will follow two of the three lecture courses.].

Learning Outcomes

• understand and appreciate the rationale behind and the need for green and sustainable chemistries and understand the 12 principles of green chemistry;
• appreciate the necessity for “cradle to grave” life cycle analyses;
• access the relative “green credentials" of chemical processes using a metrics-based approach;
• appreciate alternative synthetic methodologies relevant to green chemistry;
• understand the relationship between the size or scale of an assembly and the bulk properties 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;
• understand the importance of solid-state forms and their characterisation for drug pharmacokinetics and patenting;
• distinguish between major synthetic routes to polymer molecules and describe the characteristic features of each;
• understand surface phenomena and their translation to applications;
• understand principles of ligand field theory and electronic structure of transition metals, and the relationship to reactivity;
• describe the liquid crystalline meso phases and their physical properties and how these can be exploited in applications;
• understand the relationship between polymer structure, dynamics and material properties;
• understand how interactions between polymers affect their phase behaviour in blends.

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