00148 - Organic Chemistry

Learning outcomes

This course aims at learning and understanding the relationships among structure, properties ad reactivity of organic molecules, with particular emphasis on those of natural origin. The most important functional groups are explained and discussed. A good understanding of the fundamentals of General Chemistry, namely, orbitals, hybridation, resonance and equilibria is required.

Course contents

Alkanes, alkenes, alkines: IUPAC rules - conformational analysis - relative stability of cycloalkanes – cis and trans isomery.
Stereochemistry: stereoisomers and differences between enantiomers and diastereomers - Compounds bearing more than one chiral center.
Alkyl halides, alcohols, ethers, amines and sulfur containing compounds: properties and IUPAC names.
The C=O moiety: properties and IUPAC names of carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketons, esters and cyclic esters, acyl halides and anydrides. Structure of amides and similar compounds - Basic notions on soaps, lipids and oils.
Benzene and aromaticity: benzene derivatives - resonance in benzene and related compounds - conjugative and inductive effect of substituents in benzene - effect of substituents on acidity and basicity of some aromatic molecules.
Some reactions of organic molecules: electrophilic Addition of halogenidric acids to alkenes – nucleophilic addition or substitution to carbonilic and carboxylic groups leading to hemiacetals and acetals from aldehydes, to hemiketals and ketalsfrom ketones, to esthers from carboxylic acids.
Sugars: chemical structure - reducing power – mutarotation – glycosides – N-glycosides - oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
Aminoacids: names and properties - equilibria in solution as a function of the pH and isoelectric point.
Proteins: peptide bond – from primary to quaternary structure – brief description of a few natural compounds which characterisatics depend on their protein fraction.
Nucleotides: properties.

Readings/Bibliography

McMurray, "Fondamenti di Chimica Organica", Zanichelli;

Solomons, "Fondamenti di Chimica Organica", Zanichelli .

Tentativo: www.ochem4free.com un libro di testo intero scaricabile gratuitamente (e in totale legalità) dalla rete

Teaching methods

Lectures. Workshops.

Assessment methods

In class final quiz.

Teaching tools

Most of the pictures showed during the lessons have been recently uploaded to the website "it.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chimica_organica", toghether with some explanations ... in italian. On request il will be possible to have the same pieces of information translated in English. Please be aware that every user can modify those web pages, maybe adding misleading pieces of information.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Laghi