Carbonyl Chemistry First Semester –
I have developed one-semester foundational organic chemistry course that serves as a prerequisite for further study in biochemistry and organic chemistry. Carbonyl chemistry, a topic especially relevant to the biological sciences, is presented in the first semester to effectively support cell biology, a subject studied concurrently by a large percentage of students enrolled in a traditional first semester organic chemistry course.
The course begins with a traditional treatment of bonding and organic structures, followed by an in-depth study of acidity. A discussion of the relative acidities of substituted phenols is used to introduce the concept of how inductive and resonance effects influence reactivity. This forms the basis of discussion of the interconversion of carboxylic acid derivatives and carbonyl addition reactions. The course ends with capstone discussions of amino acids, carbohydrates, and glycolysis.
The first semester foundational course is followed by a second semester course that explores organic chemistry in greater depth. Substitution and elimination reactions, traditionally covered in the first semester of a two-semester organic sequence receive an in-depth treatment in the second semester after students have acquired a baseline familiarity with organic reactivity.