DR. KIRPAL S. BISHT, Office: SCA 430, Phone: 974-0350
Spring Semester, 2001
CHM 2200 -- 4 CREDIT HOURS, PR CHM 2046 
Department of Chemistry
University of South Florida
Tampa, FLORIDA

Class Time- 12.00 noon to 1.50 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.
Office Hours: 4.00 - 5.00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday, and by appointment. 

Course Description: A one-semester course for non-chemistry majors who have studied general college chemistry. This course is intended to further enhance the understanding of Organic Chemistry. The course covers fundamentals of modern organic chemistry and provides a wide base for application of this knowledge in the projected careers of its students. 

Course Goals:
To provide the student with a knowledge of the nomenclature, structure, chemical reactivity, and the relationship between structure and chemical reactivity that is fundamental to an understanding of the behavior of the important families of organic compounds. This course is designed to give the student the necessary background to successfully complete other courses and professional programs for which organic chemistry is a prerequisite (e.g. upper-level biology and chemical engineering courses, MCAT, DAT, and GRE, etc.). Emphasis is placed upon developing principles of bonding, structure, nomenclature, stereochemistry, reaction processes, and syntheses using compounds composed of only carbon and hydrogen or compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and halogens. In addition, chemistry and significance of a large number of complex organic compounds that play fundamental roles in the chemistry of living cells will also be discussed. 

Texts and Materials:
Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry, by John McMurray, 4th edition 
Any organic chemistry molecular model kit (not required but good to have)

Course Requirements:
The course is characterized by containing a large amount of material that you are expected to understand, and apply in problem solving. You therefore have to be very organized and consistent in your approach to the course, and you must recognize and be prepared to devote the amount of time that is necessary; gaps or lapses in your studies will be very hard to overcome. 
The abilities to manage information and to reason analytically, both deductively and inductively, are essential requirements for success in organic chemistry. For example, the course material will include a large number of facts (usually reactions) and their conceptual relationships (reactions and stereochemistry) that have to be learned in a generalized form, and in a retainable way. 

Instructions to students:
With all of that said, the study of organic chemistry can be a challenging, stimulating and intellectually rewarding exercise in learning, reasoning, and problem solving. Organic compounds comprise the vast majority of known substances ranging from natural products (e.g., cellulose, glucose, penicillin, etc.) to man made synthetic materials (e.g. plastics and polymers, dyes, paracetamol, etc). Organic compounds touch all aspects of our lives in many special ways. 
Almost all branches of modern science require use of or familiarity with these wonderful and amazing molecules. For chemistry majors the importance of studying these molecules is self-evident. None the less for a biological, medical or other life science and engineering major study of these molecules is equally important. Not only because the molecules of life are organic compounds and all life functions involve the interactions and reactions of organic compounds but also because a number of these compounds find applications in medicine, biomedical devices and are used as engineering materials. 

In order to succeed in this course:
1. Skim the assigned textbook chapter prior to the scheduled lectures covering it, in order to get an idea of where we will be going. 
2. Attendance at lecture is crucial. Take concise notes and transcribe them the same day and fill in anything you may remember but did not write down. 
3. After the lectures on a chapter are completed, read the chapter and correlate it with the lecture notes. Make sure you understand the concepts that were presented in lecture and reiterated in the text; material in the text that is unrelated to material in the lectures can be assumed to be of secondary importance relative to exams (but nevertheless may be interesting and informative!). 
4. Extract from your lecture notes the material that has to be memorized (nomenclature rules, definitions, chemical reactions) and put it into a learnable and review able form: as flashcards (recommended for reactions), lists, schemes, etc. Learning can only be accomplished and retained by repetitive review of the extracted material. 
5. Do the end-of-chapter problems. Actually do them. Don't just read them. 
6. Get help quickly if needed - the problem will not go away. I am always accessible by e-mail (kbisht@chuma1.cas.usf.edu) for answering questions. I will usually be able to respond quickly during normal working hours, or by the next morning for overnight questions.
7. Most of all have a positive attitude and a desire to learn. 
Students should attend every class meeting. If a student anticipates missing a class, the student should inform of the reason in advance. If a scheduled class test is missed, a make-up test will not be administered. Any test missed without an excused absence will be recorded as a grade of 0.
Further, I expect that this will be one of the most enjoyable experiences of your academic career and that if you do well here you will do well in all you pursue for the rest of your life.

Exams:
There will be three 1h exams (Dates are listed in the schedule below) and one 2 Hour exam. A 1hour exam will include all the material covered since the last exam. The 4th 2 hour (Final) exam, however, will include all the text covered since the beginning of the class. No makeup exams will be administered.

Grading policy:
Each 1hour exam will carry 20 points. The final exam (2 hours) will carry 35 points and 5 points will be awarded for class attendance and completed home assignments, so that your possible total will be 100. 

Grading Scale: 
Course Grading: In accordance with university policy, final grade will be designated as 
0-49 = F, 50-55= D; 56-60 = C-; 61-65 = C; 66-70 = C+; 71-75 = B-; 76-80 = B; 81-85= B+; 86-90 = A-; 91-95 = A; 96-100 = A+.

NOTICE TO ALL STUDENTS: