Course Descriptions

CH 101 General Chemistry I  (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Fall. Subjects covered include: Basic atomic structure, periodic table, chemical equations, gases, liquids, solids, electrolysis, properties of elements and compounds, rates and mechanisms of reactions. Taken concurrently with CH 105.

CH 102 General Chemistry II  (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Spring. A continuation of CH 101. Prerequisite: CH 101. Taken concurrently with CH 106.

CH 105 General Chemistry Lab I  (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Fall. An introduction to the laboratory study of the physical and chemical properties of matter; the principles and applications of gravimetric, volumetric, chemical, and quantitative analysis. Taken concurrently with CH 101.

CH 106 General Chemistry Lab II  (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Spring. A continuation of CH 105. Prerequisite: CH105. Taken concurrently with CH 106.

CH 110 Chemistry and Society  (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: every semester. A study of basic chemical principles as applied to areas of societal importance such as: nuclear chemistry, environmental issues, nutrition, and biotechnology. For non-science majors only.

CH 201 Quantitative Analysis  (4 credits)

Traditionally offered: Fall. Subjects covered include: Separations, volumetric, and gravimetric analysis. An introduction to instrumental analysis and chemometrics. This course includes lecture and laboratory sections.

CH 301 Organic Chemistry I  (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Fall. An introduction to the language, theory, and practice of organic chemistry. Topics include acid-base chemistry, conformational analysis, stereochemistry, reactions of aliphatic compounds, synthesis, and mechanisms.  Emphasis is placed on the importance of Organic Chemistry to biology and medicine. Prerequisite: CH 102. Taken concurrently with CH 307.

CH 302 Organic Chemistry II  (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Spring. A continuation of CH 301, with an expanded discussion of reaction mechanisms and synthesis. Topics include the use of spectroscopy in structure determination, the reactions of aromatic compounds and carbonyl compounds, heterocyclic chemistry, and medicinal chemistry. Prerequisite: CH 301. Taken concurrently with CH 308.

CH 307 Organic Chemistry Lab I (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Fall. Techniques used in the isolation, purification, and synthesis of organic compounds. Prerequisites: CH 102 and CH 106. Taken concurrently with CH 301.

CH 308 Organic Chemistry Lab II (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Spring. A continuation of CH 307.  Prerequisites: CH 307. Taken concurrently with CH 302.

CH 310 Medicinal Chemistry (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Spring. A survey of the principal classes of prescription drugs including neurologic, anesthetic, and cardiovascular drugs, hormones; anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and oncolytic agents. Detailed study of the discovery, chemical structure, synthesis, and pharmacology of several representatives in each category. Prerequisites: CH 302.

CH 311 Physical Chemistry I (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Fall. Major concepts covered include: The laws of thermodynamics, thermochemistry, and equilibrium; the gaseous state, transport phenomena, solutions, chemical kinetics, electrochemistry, basic quantum and statistical mechanics. Prerequisites: CH 102 with a C or better. MA 251 or MA 252. CH 315 must be taken prior to, or at the same time as this course.

CH 312 Physical Chemistry II (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Spring. A continuation of CH 311. Prerequisites: CH 102 with a C or better. MA 251 or MA 252. CH 316 must be taken prior to, or at the same time as this course. Recommended: CH 311 is recommended prior to taking this course, but is not required.

CH 315 Physical Chemistry Lab I (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Fall. A combination of classical and modern experiments. Emphasis on carefulness in performing experiments, interpreting results, and writing formal reports. Prerequisites: CH 302, CH 308. Taken concurrently with CH 311.

CH 316 Physical Chemistry Lab II (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Spring. A continuation of CH 315. Prerequisites: CH 302, CH 308. CH 312 must be taken prior to, or at the same time as this course. CH 315 is recommended prior to taking this course but is not required.

CH 406 Organic Synthesis (4 credits)

Traditionally offered: Fall. An introduction to modern methods of organic synthesis and structure determination. An emphasis will be placed on reaction mechanisms and methods for controlling regio-, chemo-, and stereoselectivity. Topics include retrosynthetic analysis, carbon-carbon bond forming reactions, functional group transformations, and the use of NMR and IR spectroscopy to determine structures and stereochemistry. Prerequisites: CH 302, CH 308.

CH 410 Instrumental Methods (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Spring. Principles and applications of some spectroscopic, chromatographic, and electrochemical techniques. Introduction to computer interfacing.  Prerequisites: CH 311, CH 315. Taken concurrently with: CH 411.

CH 411 Instrumental Methods Lab (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Spring. Principles and applications of some spectroscopic, chromatographic, and electrochemical techniques. Applications of chemo-metrics. Prerequisites: CH 312, CH 316. Taken concurrently with: CH 410.

CH 412 Inorganic Chemistry (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Fall. Applications of thermodynamic, kinetic, and structural principles to the chemistry of the elements.  Prerequisites: CH 312 Lecture only.

CH 420 Chemistry Research (1, 2 or 3 credits)

Supervised research projects with the permission of the departmental chair.

CH 431 Biochemistry I (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Fall. General principles of biochemistry including studies of the macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids), enzyme kinetics and reaction mechanisms, and intermediary metabolism. Prerequisites: CH 302, CH 308. Corequisite: CH 433. Same course as BL 431.

CH 432 Biochemistry II (3 credits)

Traditionally offered: Spring. An examination of select topics in biochemistry, focusing on how life processes are regulated by the interactions between molecules. Topics vary and may include protein structure and function; protein-DNA interactions; signal transduction cascades; enzyme reaction mechanisms; the cytoskeleton; protein synthesis; and cellular secretion. Students lead discussions and/or make oral presentations. Prerequisite: CH 431. Corequisite: CH 434. Same course as BL 432.

CH 433 Biochemistry Lab I (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Fall. Designed to supplement and reinforce concepts covered in the lecture course and introduce students to the techniques of the modern biochemistry laboratory. Experiments include computer visualization of biomolecules, enzyme kinetics, chromatography, and electrophoresis. Corequisite: CH 431. Same course as BL 433.

CH 434 Biochemistry Lab II (1 credit)

Traditionally offered: Spring. Modern experimental biochemistry focusing on techniques for the purification, characterization, and analysis of proteins. Prerequisite: CH 431, CH 433. Corequisite: CH 432. Same course as BL 434.