Chemistry 339 - Physical Organic Chemistry

The study of the relationship between molecular structure, stability and reactivity. This course describes a series of tools to analyze reaction mechanisms, including reaction kinetics, linear free energy relationships, principles of computational analysis, frontier molecular orbitals and isotope effects. Ground state properties are discussed with respect to conformational analysis, sterics and strain, aromaticity, and bond strength and acidity. Students learn to process mechanistic data from the literature to understand mechanistic arguments. Students also learn to analyze a problem to design and propose experiments to reveal mechanistic insights. Prerequisites: CHM 222, CHM 223 and either CHM 118 or CHM 224. Enrollment limited to 25.

[CE] CHM 222, 223 & (CHM 118 or 224)