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

Undergraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)

Module CHEM3447: Practical Chemistry 3 - Synthetic

Department: Chemistry

CHEM3447: Practical Chemistry 3 - Synthetic

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Tied	3	10	Available in 2025/2026	None.	Durham

Tied To

Pre-requisites

Core Chemistry 2 (CHEM2012) AND Practical Chemistry 2 – Synthetic (CHEM2147).

Corequisites

Core Chemistry 3 (CHEM3012) OR Bioactive Chemistry 3 (CHEM3211).

Excluded Combinations

Practical Chemistry 3 – Integrated (CHEM3451), Practical Chemistry 3 – Measurement (CHEM3467).

Aims

To expand and promote the knowledge and understanding of synthetic chemistry through practical work.

Content

Practical work in advanced synthetic chemistry.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the advanced chemical principles underpinning the practical work carried out.

Subject-specific Skills

Prepare, purify and identify a range of compounds.
Understand the importance of advanced experimental design and safety.
Perform advanced experimental manipulation.
Evaluate results in terms of the theory underlying the experiment.
Write coherent scientific reports on obtained data.
Demonstrate time management skills and an ability to plan experimental work.
Interpret spectroscopic data (NMR, IR, Mass spectrometry).

Key Skills

Problem solving.
Verbal and written communication.
information retrieval and scientific writing, exercised through accounts of laboratory work.

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

Laboratory classes teach students techniques in various aspects of synthetic chemistry.
At the start of the module, an introductory lecture includes a health and safety briefing. A second lecture takes place in Term 2 to introduce the investigation.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours	Attendance Monitored
Practicals	20	20 sessions spread across Terms 1 and 2	3 hours	60	Yes
Lectures	2	One per term in Terms 1 and 2	1 hour	2	Yes
Preparation and Reading				38
Total				100

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Practical Work	100%	Results of laboratory work		100%

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment occurs continuously by means of feedback for pre-lab activities, verbal and written feedback in practical activity sessions, and via written feedback on assessed work.

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.