Course Description
    Multi-step syntheses and advanced techniques with some molecular modeling.  Strong emphasis on infrared spectro- scopy, ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance as applied to synthesis and structure determination.  Prerequisite: Concurrent (or prior) enrollment in CHM 2840.

General Philosophy

    This laboratory class will be different in virtually every way from CHM 2445, the lab course you recently completed.   In the first class, you're really learning a series of laboratory techniques and protocols which are used in organic chemistry labs.  But, to call the series of exercises "experiments" is a something of a stretch, since the outcome is known from the start; the focus is on how to do things.  These were valuable and necessary things to learn, but now that you know them, it's time to use them to do some very exciting things.

    The "proving ground" for organic chemistry is the realm of organic synthesis, wherein a naturally occurring, usually pharmacologically active compounds are prepared from chemicals available from suppliers.  In is in this fascinating and stimulating arena that we will spend most of the semester.  After an initial investigation into the separation and purification of compounds whose identity is unknown, we'll tackle the synthesis of lidocaine (Xylocaine®, a local anesthetic), known and feared by dental patients everywhere.  Then, we'll synthesize 5,5-diphenylhydantoin (Dilantin®), an anticonvulsant drug used by milliions of epileptics.  The rest of the semester's projects will be chosen as the time gets closer, as the needs and strengths of the class become clear.

Course Materials

• Course Syllabus - Includes textbooks, office hours, etc.
• Class Schedule - Chronological listing of topics, experiments, report due dates, etc.
• Curve/Grade Information - Current cutoffs for each grade; high/low/average for all quizzes/exams.  Updated continuously.

Specifics and Helpful Guidelines

• Doing Excellent Research - a dozen rules, suggestions, and other useful information for neophytes to the research environment.
• Notebook Notes - how to set up your notebook prior to an experiment, taking good notes, being sure your notebook contains all the datayou'll need to write a great report on the experiment.
• Laboratory Report Format - everything you need to know to write high-quality, high-scoring laboratory reports.

Handouts and Background Information

    In this section, you will find not only various handouts, including procedures for upcoming experiments, but also links to background information on the various experiments and adventures you're carrying out in the lab.  There are several very good reasons for looking into some of this material.  First, it will always involve the health or medicinal aspects of the target compound, and, theoretically, the majority of people in this course are destined for medical/dental/etc. school.  Second, it places into perspective what you're doing in the lab, so that when you talk about it, you can sound much more like a researcher and less like a cook.  Third, you'll do much better on the pre-lab quizzes.  Last, it's interesting, at least, it should be, to those interested in the pharmacological aspects of organic chemistry.

Target Molecule [click name for handout]	Background, Properties, Mechanism of Action
lidocaine (lab begins 2/3/04)	Local Anesthetics - from a dentist's site, surprisingly detailed and sophisticated Butterworth Refresher Course - great slide talk on local anesthetics, meant for clinicians LA Outline - 7pg succinct outline of how they work, along with other common agents Mechanisms of Action - rather advanced discussion, including future directions and new agents
Dilantin® (lab begins 2/19/04)	Anticonvulsants  - nice lecture notes from Univ. of Chicago Children's Hospital Epilepsy/Seizures - good background on the disease and Tx, from Neurology Channel Chemistry, Metabolism, and Det'n. of Dilantin - from a site devoted to the drug (here!) CNS Depressants  - great PPT slideshow, is followed by another PPT file on BZ's.

 

to Quizzes: