The learning outcomes for this unit are described below. These outcomes are built from the learning activities in lectures, tutorials, laboratory and independent study. Important attributes are:
- the ability to apply scientific knowledge and critical thinking to identify, define and analyse problem and create solutions: you will be expected to demonstrate these outcomes on problems drawn from the material presented in the course and to novel situations.
- the ability to evaluate your own performance and development and to recognize gaps in your knowledge: keep a portfolio of your progress using the 'self assessment tool'
- Generic Attributes
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- apply scientific knowledge and critical thinking to identify, define and analyse problems, create solutions, evaluate opinions, innovate and improve current practices
- gather, evaluate and deploy information relevant to a scientific problem
- disseminate new knowledge and engage in debate about scientific issues
- recognize the rapid and sometimes major changes in scientific knowledge and technology, and to value the importance of continual growth in knowledge and skills
- use a range of computer software packages in the process of gathering, processing and disseminating scientific knowledge
- make value judgements about the reliability and relevance of information in a scientific context
- evaluate your own performance and development, to recognize gaps in knowledge and acquire new knowledge independently
- set achievable and realistic goals and monitor and evaluate progress towards these goals
- appreciate sustainability and the impact of science within the broader economic, environmental and socio-cultural context
- present and interpret data or other scientific information using graphs, tables, figures and symbols
- work independently and as part of a team and to take individual responsibility with a group for developing and achieving goals
- actively seek, identify and create effective contacts with others in a professional and social context, and maintain those contacts for mutual benefit
- recognize the importance of safety and risk management and compliance with safety procedures
- manipulative equations and measurements with due regard for significant figures and unit conventions
- Laboratory Skills
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- perform careful and safe experiments
- accurately report scientific observations
- work as a professional scientist with due regard for personal safety and for the safety of those around you
- interpret observations in terms of chemical models with appropriate use of chemical equations and calculations
- perform calculations containing concentrations, moles and masses
- choose and use appropriate glassware for a given task
- choose and use balances accurately and appropriately
- present and interpret data or other scientific information using graphs, tables, figures and symbols
- work as a member of a team and to take individual responsibility within a group for developing and achieving group goals
- actively seek, identify and create effective contacts with others in a professional and social context, and maintain those contacts for mutual benefit
- Representations of Molecular Structure
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- determine the geometry and hybridization state for each carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atom in a molecule
- interconvert the structural and stick formula and stick representations of a molecule
- convert a stick structure into a molecular formula
- recognize and name the functional groups in a molecule
- Structural Determination
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- explain the basic principles of a mass spectrometer
- identify the molecular ion, base peak and daughter ions in a mass spectrum
- derive structural information from a fragmentation pattern in a mass spectrum
- recognize the isotope distribution characteristic or bromine and chlorine containing compounds in a mass spectrum
- use the information that IR and UV-visible spectra provide to aid in the determination of structures
- explain the basic principles of NMR spectroscopy
- identify the number and type of carbon environments in a molecule and predict the number of signals in a 13C NMR spectrum
- identify the number and type of hydrogen environments in a molecule and predict the the number of signals in a 1H NMR spectrum
- predict the number of hydrogen atoms in each environment from the size of the signals in a 1H NMR spectrum
- predict the number of hydrogen atoms on neighbouring atoms from the multiplicity of the signals in a 1H NMR spectrum
- determine the structure of a simple compound from spectroscopic data
- Aromatic Compounds
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- explain the special stability of benzene and why it does not react like an alkene
- explain what is required for a compound to be aromatic and apply Hückel's rule to rings containing heteroatoms
- draw a mechanism for an SEAr reaction
- predict the products for the reaction of benzene with several different electrophiles
- recognise the important role of aromatic compounds in biology and medicine
- Alcohols
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify and name simple alcohols, diols, triols and phenols
- explain why phenols are more acidic than alcohols
- predict the products of oxidation of an alcohol and give the reagents required to perform this reaction
- explain the nucleophilicity and basicity of alcohols
- predict the products of the elimination of alcohols, using Zaitsev's rule, and give the reagents required to perform this reaction
- explain the mechanism of dehydration
- Stereochemistry
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify stereogenic centres in organic molecules
- distinguish between different types of isomers, including enantiomers and diastereomers
- use (R)- and (S)- descriptors to describe enantiomers and identify if a compouind has (R)- or (S)- stereochemistry
- convert between stereo structures and Fischer projections
- determine the maximum number of isomers possible in a compound with more than one stereogenic centre
- identify meso compounds and when to expect them
- Organic Halogen Compounds
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify and name organic halogen compounds
- predict the products of the elimination of alkyl halides, using Zaitsev's rule, and give the reagents required to perform this reaction
- Identify the products of nucleophilic substitution of alkyl halides
- determine the nucleophile required to react with an alkyl halide to give a specified product
- appreciate that nucleophilic substitution follows two mechanisms and the factors that effect each mechanism
- Aldehydes and Ketones
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify and name simple ketones and aldehydes
- explain the mechanism of nucleophilic addition to a carbonyl
- predict the products of oxidation and reduction of aldehydes and ketones and give the reagents required to perform these reactions
- identify a Grignard Reagent and know how to make it
- predict products from Grignard addition to aldehydes, ketones and carbon dioxide
- recognize an acetal.
- Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify and name simple carboxylic acids
- give the products from the reaction of a carboxylic acid with a base and recognize that this is a reversible reaction
- predict the product of the reduction of a carboxylic acid and give the reagents required to perform this reaction
- recognize the role of long chain fatty acids in soap
- identify carboxylic acid derivatives as esters, amides, acid halides and acid anhydrides
- give the products obtained upon hydrolysis of these carboxylic acid derivatives
- recognize that acid halides are more reactive than esters which are, in turn, more reactive than amides
- predict the products that will be formed when a carboxylic acid derivative is treated with an alcohol or amine
- give the reagents required for the interconversion of carboxylic acid derivatives
- list the physical properties of fats and oils
- identify the repeating structural unit of a condensation polymer given the monomers
- recognise proteins as polymers of amino acids
- explain how primary structure relates to a covalently bonded sequence of amino acids
- recognize that secondary, tertiary and quaternary structures result from interactions such as hydrogen bonds within and between protein chains
- Calculations Involving pKa
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- use pKw, pKa and pKb to calculate the pH of a solution containing a weak acid or base
- use the increase in pKa values for dissocation of the protons in a polyprotic acid to perform calculations
- be able to explain what buffers are and how they work
- be able to calculate the pH of a buffer system and be able to design a buffer with a required pH
- use titration curves to characterize acids and bases, using the pH at the equivalence and half-equivalence points
- design and perform titration experiments to obtain pKa values with appropriate choice of indicator
- Periodic Trends
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- recognize trends in the Periodic Table and the correlation between the trends in atomic radii, ionization energies and electronegativity
- explain the origin of these trends in terms of the electronic structure of the atoms
- predict reactivity based on these trends, particularly how the acid, base or amphoteric character of an element's oxide and hydroxide are related to its position in the Periodic Table
- Physical States and Phase Diagrams
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify characteristics of physical states
- label phase diagrams and relate phase diagrams to changes in state with temperature and pressure
- explain the anomalous behaviour of water using its phase diagram
- define supercritical fluids and the behaviour of compounds above the critical point
- interpret simple two-component phase diagrams
- Entropy
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- define entropy in terms of the tendency of energy to spread out
- predict how entropy changes with the physical state, the temperature, the size of the molecule and the complexity of a molecule
- predict whether entropy increases or decreases for simple physical and chemical changes, especially for changes in physical state
- apply entropy concept qualitatively to predict the direction of phase changes
- Crystal Structures
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- define and give examples of alloys
- show how close packing of spheres can lead to hexagonal or cubic close packing
- identify the major metal structures - cubic close packed, hexagonal close packed, body centred cubic and simple cubic
- list the coordination number, packing efficiency and number of atoms in the unit cell of each of these packing types
- identify unit cells for cubic packing
- relate the unit cell contents and the stoichiometry
- calculate the packing efficiency in cubic unit cells
- rationalize the structure of simple ionic solids in terms of filling of the holes in the close packed structures
- Solubility Equilibrium
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify what determines solubility in terms of bonding forces
- construct Ksp from the chemical equation for dissolution
- calculate solubility from Ksp values for salts according to their formula
- use the ionic product, Q, to predict whether dissolution or precipitation will occur
- apply the common ion effect qualititatively and quantitatively using Ksp and Q
- Metal Complexes
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- define complex, ligand and coordinate bond
- recognize that hydrolysis of metal ions in aqueous solutions gives rise to acidic solutions and predict their relative acidity
- recognize chelate ligands, their donor atoms and the stability of their complexes
- name coordination complexes and compounds using IUPAC nomenclature
- identify isomers including structural, geometrical and optical isomerism for tetrahedral, square planar and octahedral complexes
- write down the form of the stability constant, Kstab, for a complex
- recognize and predict how the formation of stable complexes can increase the apparent solubility of salts by combining Ksp and Kstab expressions
- Coordination Chemistry
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- work out the oxidation state of a transition metal in a complex
- work out the number of d electrons on a transition metal cation and the number of unpaired electrons
- recognize that the magnetism of transition metal complexes and many of their colours arise from the d electrons
- Metals in Biology
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- list the important molecular building blocks of living systems
- identify essential, toxic and medicinal elements
- explain the typical roles of metals in the body
- relate the medicinal uses of metals to their coordination chemistry
- recognize the role of coordination chemistry in drug design
- Kinetics
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- determine the rate law from experimental data, including the rate constant and its units
- identify the reaction order from the rate law
- use the integrated rate law and half life for 1st order reactions
- recognize the effect of temperature on reaction rates and be able to use the Arrhenius equation in calculations
- recognize that chemical reactions result from multistep processes called reaction mechanisms
- recognize the role of activation energy and collision frequency in determining rates
- work out a rate law from a simple proposed mechanism
- draw reaction profile diagrams for multi-step reactions with appropriate activation energies and intermediates
- calculate Ea and A from the temperature variation of the rate constant
- know how catalysts effect the rate of reactions without altering equilibrium constants