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• Our Curriculum
  • Introduction to Chemical Structure and Properties
  • Integrated Foundation Courses
  • Detailed Descriptions of our Introductory and Foundation Courses
  • Labs
  • Problem-Based Pedagogy
  • Concentratons within the Chemistry Major
  • 2 Credit In-Depth Courses
• Advising for our New Curriculum
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2 Credit In-Depth Courses

Course descriptions for a series of  possible 2 credit in-depth classes are given below (pending approval in Spring 2012).  Note that the In-depth courses do not require completion of all the foundation courses.   Course materials will include textbooks and articles from the literature.  Classroom assessment will include exams, quizzes, student presentation and papers, and participation. 

CHEM XXX: Bioanalytical Chemistry

This course provides an overview of the physico-chemical principles of bioanalytic methods and the application of modern instrumental techniques to biological systems. Particular focus will be placed on fundamental principles and analytical measurements of biomolecules, immunoassays, separations, biological mass spectrometry, microscopy and imaging. Emerging technologies such as nanotechnology-enabled biosensors, microfluidic devices and lab-on-chip will also be addressed. Error analysis, statistical treatment of data and validation of bioanalytical methods and devices are included. Prerequisite:  CHEM 316 or CHEM 304

CHEM XXX: Chemical Biology

This course will cover topics of current interest in chemical biology and will survey the way in which organic chemistry is used to investigate and manipulate biological systems either for a biological or chemical purpose. Specific topics will depend on class interest but may include protein design, development of unnatural biological molecules, peptide-carbohydrate interactions, combinatorial synthesis/libraries, molecular recognition, chemical genetics, biosynthesis and methods of drug discovery. Prerequisite: CHEM 315

CHEM XXX: Chemistry of Industrial Topics

This course is intended to teach students the underlying principles in the operation and process development of a product for industrial scale mass production.  Topics for this course will include testing/trials, production design, and resource management. Prerequisite:  CHEM 317

CHEM XXX: Environmental Chemistry

Chemistry has played a major role in the advancement of society and in making our lives longer, healthier, more comfortable and more enjoyable.  The effects of human-make chemicals are ubiquitous and in many instances quite positive.  However, along with all the positive advances that result from chemistry, copious amounts of toxic and corrosive chemicals have also been produced and dispersed into the environment.  During this course, you will see that scientists do have a good handle on many environmental chemistry problems and have suggested ways to keep us from inheriting uncontrolled experiments on the planet.  The course will look at five areas of environmental study; atmospheric chemistry and air pollution, energy and climate change, toxic organic compounds, water chemistry and water pollution, and metals, soils sediments and waste disposal.  Prerequisites: Chem 317. Co-requisite, Chem XXX (Advanced Separations)

This course will focus on the fundamental principles in developing products for industry.  These products will include structural materials, conductors, semiconductors, and insulators.  The students will be presented with current synthetic techniques for the production of bulk and nanostructured materials along with analytical methodologies to physically characterize synthesized products for a desired application. Prerequisite: CHEM 317

Synthesis is an important application of chemical reactivity concepts.  In this course, students will learn about some current methods useful in synthesis and see these methods applied in the synthesis of complex molecules. Topics may include organo-transition metal reactions, methods of enantioselective synthesis and retrosynthetic analysis.  Students will demonstrate basic proficiency in these areas and also carry out detailed analyses of total syntheses from the current literature. Prerequisite: CHEM 315

This course will study the factors that affect the rates of organic, inorganic and biochemical reactions.  Emphasis will be on methods for monitoring reaction rates and using experimental data to propose reaction mechanisms.  Prerequisite:  CHEM 315.

This course explores the role of metals in biological systems.  Emphasis will be on metalloproteins, their synthetic models and spectroscopic techniques used to probe these systems.  Prerequisite:  CHEM 315

This course will involve the use of metal surfaces, discrete organic and organometallic compounds and biomolecules as catalysts.  Emphasis will be on understanding how the catalyst functions and how it is studied and modified to alter its selectivity and efficiency.  Prerequisite: CHEM 315

This course will explore structure based drug design. Specific topics will depend on class interest but may include structure activity relationships, computational drug design methods, drug delivery, combinatorial chemistry, drug metabolism and drug synthesis. Prerequisite: CHEM 315

The major emphasis of this course will be on molecular structure determination.   This skill is essential for chemists in many areas, such as medicinal chemistry, process chemistry, natural products chemistry, polymer chemistry, forensic chemistry, and many other sub-specialties of analytical chemistry.  This course will prepare students with an up-to-date presentation of the tools used for the advanced analysis and structure elucidation of organic molecules using a variety of spectroscopic data including mass spectrometry, IR spectroscopy, fluorimetry, x-ray spectroscopy, etc.  The specific techniques may vary depending on instructor choice.   However, as NMR has proven to be one of the most powerful tools available, this course will provide students with an understanding of the basic principles of NMR and the students will explore the use of different techniques such as decoupling, relaxation time measurements, nOe, and interpretation of 1D and 2D NMR spectra. Prerequisite: CHEM 203

This course is primarily focused on the basic theory of separation processes, separation techniques, and specific separation methods as applied to chemical, environmental and biological samples. Modern separation techniques such as various types of chromatography, electrophoresis and field flow fractionation will be covered. Multidimensional separation techniques and hyphenated techniques will also be discussed. Prerequisite:  CHEM 316, CHEM 304

A study of thermodynamic and kinetic process underlying biological molecule structure and activity.  Special attention will be given to structures of multimolecular aggregates and conformations of proteins, nucleic acids, and complex carbohydrates, the hydrodynamic and spectroscopic techniques used to study them, and kinetic analyses that described biomolecule interactions and reactivity. Prerequisite:  CHEM 316 or 304

This course will include a critical examination of the process of measurement and then the systematic treatment of instrument design and some discussion of instrumental methods.  Substantial amount of physical theory of electronics, optics and quantification will be included to provide background on how an instrument operates, the overall performance, limitations and selection of instrument modules that will yield desired measurements.  Basic design of spectrometers and electrochemical modules will be covered. Prerequisites: PHYS 106 or 200, CHEM 317

This course will explore biological mechanisms of activation and detoxification of xenobiotics. Topics will include oxidation/ reduction mechanisms (i.e. Cytochrome P450, Flavin Mono-Oxygenase), transferase reactions (i.e. Glutathione S-Transferase, Glycosyltransferases, Acetyltransferases), adduct formation, and repair mechanisms. Prerequisite: CHEM 315