Organic Chemistry I, Chem 207

Fall 2006

Dr. Suzanne Theresa Mabrouk

General Information

• Class Schedule: M, W, F 10:00 - 10:50 am in Byrd Hall room 302
• Office Number: Byrd Hall room 401
• Office Hours: If you have difficulty with course concepts or have any questions, please feel free to drop by for help. If my office hours do not coincide with your free time, then schedule an appointment. Keep in mind that regular help will assist you in mastering the material. If you find that I am already helping other students during office hours, ask if you may join. I usually help more than one student at a time, with each student having the opportunity to interject questions. This method makes better use of everyone's time.
  • M 1 - 2 pm
  • T and R 4-5 pm
  • open door policy
• Phone Number: 953-7788
• Email Address: mabrouks@citadel.edu
  If you need help at night, the best way to reach me is via email.

General Course Information

• Required Text: Organic Chemistry by T. W. Graham Solomons and Craig B. Fryhle, 8th ed.
• Course Prerequisites:
  • Chem 151 and 152
  • Each student should understand the following key concepts from general chemistry: Lewis dot structures, the octet rule and its exceptions, atomic and molecular orbital theory, hybridization, molecular geometry, polarity, acidity and basicity, thermodynamics, and electronegativity.
• Co-requisite: Chem 217
• Course Content: This course will cover the exciting chemistry of carbon: the chemistry of alkanes, alkyl halides, alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, and ethers; stereochemistry; spectroscopy; and substitution and elimination reactions. Mechanisms will be used to explain most organic reactions. Electronegativity and acidity/basicity will be used to explain the reactivity of organic functional classes. As new classes of organic compounds are presented, synthesis will be discussed. This course will aid future biologists, chemists, dentists, medical doctors, pharmacists, and veterinarians to understand the chemistry involved in their discipline.
• Course Objective: By the end of this course, students should be able to:
  1. deduce products to organic reactions
  2. deduce reasonable mechanisms to an organic reaction and
  3. devise reasonable syntheses for one organic compound from another.

   

• Lectures
  • Lectures will be posted to WebCT as they become available. These can be accessed using the student's six-digit CIT number without the letters CIT or any dashes as the username. Initially the password is set to the last four digits of a student's social security number; the password can be re-set at any time by the student.
  • When notes are available ahead of time, the student should print the notes and bring them to lecture each day so that they can be annotated during the lecture. Students should read the notes ahead of time as the professor will only be highlighting information, so that as much class time as possible can be spent by the students solving representative problems at the chalkboard.

Date	Topic or Test
August 23-28	Chapter 1
August 28-September 4	Chapter 2
September 6-11	Chapter 3
September 13, 18-22	Chapter 4
September 15	Test #1: Chs. 1-3
September 25-29	Chapter 5
October 2-9	Chapter 6
October 11, 16-20	Chapter 7
October 13	Test #2: Chs. 4-6
October 23-30	Chapter 8
November 1-3	Chapter 9
November 6 and 10	Chapter 10
November 8	Test #3: Chs. 7-9
November 13-27	Chapter 11
November 27, December 1-4	Chapter 12
November 29	Test #4: Chs. 10 and 11

Teaching Style

A variety of teaching formats will be employed throughout this course, to more effectively transmit the subject of organic chemistry to the students. All of the following will be employed in addition to others as deemed necessary:

• interactive lecture style, lecture with questions for discussion
• group work
• board work

Course Grading Policy

• Honor in the Class: All students will adhere to the Citadel honor code described in The Guidon, and as such will not cheat on any work submitted to the instructor for a grade. Cheating includes discussion of the difficulty level of the test, the emphasis, and questions. Cheating will not be tolerated!
• CLE Assignments: Students, working in groups of three, will devise one mutually acceptable solution to each assigned problem. The group will submit the assignment at the beginning of the next class, with each member of the group receiving the same grade. Any member of the class will be randomly selected to present the solution to a problem. When working these assignments, only students within a group may work together. It is a violation for groups to assist one another. At least three CLE assignments will be given in each testing period. All CLE's will be graded with the best one for each testing period counting. At the end of the course, the lowest CLE grade will be dropped and the remaining three counted for 5% of the course grade. For details, see associated handout.
• Tests: There will be a total of four required in-class tests. At the end of the semester, the three best of the four tests will constitute 70% of the final course grade.

• Make-up Tests: All make-up tests must be taken by two days after the original test date. Failure to do so will result in a 0 on the corresponding test.
  1. Students who know that a test must be missed, must speak with the professor and establish a make-up test date prior to the absence.
  2. Ill students must contact the professor and make-up the test within two days of the original test date.
  
  
  Where special arrangements have been made regarding a make-up, this is a contract between the professor and that specific student. This student is not at liberty to pardon other students from taking the test on time.
• Final Exam: The final exam is required for a final course grade. Failure to take the final exam results in a final course grade of F. It will only be taken during the assigned time, Thursday, December 7 at 8 am regardless of circumstances. The final exam constitutes 25% of the course grade.
  • Final Exam: Thursday, December 7 at 8:00 am on Chem 207 its entirety, Chapters 1-12.

   

• Laboratory: As the laboratory is offered as a separate course, the grade earned in Chem 218 will not affect the grade earned in Chem 208.
• Midterm Grade: Only tests, all tests to present, will count towards the midterm grade. Grades will be assigned according to the scale given below.
• Final Course Grade:
  • Recognizing that people have a bad day periodically, one CLE assignment and one test will be dropped at the end of the course.
    • CLE Assignments (best one per testing period): 5%
    • Tests (best 3 of 4): 70%
    • Final Exam: 25%
• Use the following equation to determine your final course grade.
  • Final Course Grade = (CLE Avg) (0.05) + (Test Avg)(0.70) + (Final Exam)(0.25)

• Scale for Final Course Grades
  • All lecture grades are awarded based on the following scale. This scale does not apply to lab courses.
    • A: 100-87
    • B: 86-77
    • C: 76-67
    • D: 66-57
    • F: 57-0

Testing Format

Tests will address material from the lecture notes, textbook, and suggested homework problems. The following types of questions will appear on tests, as appropriate:

• provide major organic products, 10-15 questions
• multiple choice questions on acidity/basicity, nomenclature, structural features, physical properties, etc., 6-10 questions
• mechanisms, usually 2 questions
• syntheses, usually 2 questions
• other problems, 1-2 questions

Tests will be administered on starting at 9:55 am and ending at 10:55 am. This timeframe will provide students one full hour to complete the tests. No additional time will be given, except to LD students with written documentation (see appropriate section below).

Note

• LD students: It is the responsibility of these students to provide the professor with written documentation from Dr. Barbara Zaremba regarding special needs. According to Citadel policy, all letters addressing special needs must be processed by Dr. Zaremba. Letters from Dr. Zaremba must be received by this professor at least two days prior to the test and mutually acceptable arrangements must be made by this same timeframe between the professor and the student. All tests will be administered in the presence of this professor.

Classroom Etiquette

• For details see http://faculty.citadel.edu/mabrouk/etiquette.htm .
• Attendance at each class lecture is mandatory, as described in the college catalog p. 25. Attendance will be submitted daily on-line.
• Thanksgiving furlough begins following a student's last scheduled class. We will have class on Friday, November 17 from 10-10:50 am.
• Students will not be allowed to enter class late. Class starts at 10 am exactly, based on atomic time.
• You are responsible for the condition of your desk. Report any writing on the desk before class begins.
• Food, drink, smoking, and tobacco are prohibited in Byrd Hall, as these items do not mix well with chemicals.
• The use of profane language is unacceptable in the presence of this professor.
  

Suggested Homework Problems

As each chapter is presented homework problems from the textbook will be provided. Although these problems will not be graded, they will provide the student invaluable experience for the in-class tests.

© COPYRIGHT 2006 SUZANNE MABROUK mabrouks@citadel.edu (last updated: 8/18/06)