Chemistry and Biochemistry Courses
FCH 132. Orientation Seminar: Chemistry (1)
One hour of lecture and discussion per week. Introduction to campus resources available to ensure academic success. Introduction to chemistry as a field of inquiry. Introduction to laboratory safety. Fall.
FCH 150. General Chemistry I (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. This first semester general chemistry course is organized around the physical and chemical properties of matter. It introduces the atomic structure of elements, the kinds of bonds in chemical compounds, how atomic ratios in molecules form the basis for the stoichiometry of reactions, thermodynamics and discusses the principles of chemical reactivity. Fall.
FCH
151. General Chemistry Laboratory I (1)
Three hours of laboratory per week. Basic laboratory techniques will be emphasized through experiments dealing with: the density of solids and liquids, atomic ratios and mass combining ratios, atomic structure and the periodic table, calorimetry, chemical reactivity, geometric structure of molecules, formation of coordination compounds, and paper chromatography. Fall.
Prerequisite: FCH 150.
FCH
152. General Chemistry II (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. The second course in general chemistry continues the development of chemical reactivity by focusing on chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium. Aqueous phase processes are emphasized and are applied to precipitation and solubility equilibria, acid/base dissociation phenomena, and fundamental electrochemical reactions. Spring.
Prerequisite: FCH 150.
FCH
153. General Chemistry Laboratory II (1)
Three hours of laboratory per week. Concepts of chemical kinetics and equilibrium processes will be reinforced through experiments in: titrimetric analyses, determinations of Ka and Ksp values, investi-gation of rate constants and reaction orders, buffer preparations, oxidation/reduction reactions and qualitative analyses. Spring.
Prerequisites: FCH 150, FCH 151. Co-requisite: FCH 152.
FCH
210. Elements of Organic Chemistry (4)
Three hours of lecture and four hours of laboratory per week including pre-laboratory instruction. Nomenclature, preparation, and important reactions of functional groups and classes of organic compounds including examples relevant to biology. Isomerism and stereochemistry topics of biomolecules. Quantative study of weak acids and weak bases. Lab techniques include compound manipulations, extractions, distil-lations, chromatography, synthesis, and calculation of yields. Spring.
Prerequisite: One year of General Chemistry.
FCH
221. Organic Chemistry I (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. The structure, properties and fundamental reactivity of organic compounds will be studied with emphasis on the reaction mechanisms and stereochemistry. In combination with FCH 223, this course provides a full survey of common classes of carbon compounds. Fall.
Prerequisite: FCH 150, FCH 151, FCH 152, FCH 153.
FCH
222. Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (1)
Four hours of laboratory including pre-laboratory instruction per week. Laboratory safety. Melting and boiling points, distillation, recrystallization, thin-layer and column chromatography, isolation of natural products, organic synthesis and spectroscopy. Fall.
Co-requisite: FCH 221.
FCH
223. Organic Chemistry II (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. The structure, properties and fundamental reactivity of organic compounds will be studied with emphasis on the reaction mechanisms and stereochemistry. In combination with FCH 221, this course provides a full survey of common classes of carbon compounds. Spring.
Prerequisite: FCH 221.
FCH
224. Organic Chemistry Laboratory II (1)
Four hours of laboratory including pre-laboratory instruction per week. Continuation of FCH 222. Simple physical and instrumental techniques applied to organic chemistry. Gas chromatography, polarimetry, spectroscopy. Introduction to classical literature synthesis. Topics from natural products chemistry including chemical ecology, biomimetic synthesis, and the synthesis of an anticancer drug from birch bark. Spring.
Prerequisite: FCH 222. Co-requisite: FCH 223.
FCH
325. Organic Chemistry III (4)
Two hours of lecture, one six-hour laboratory per week. Classical and recent literature synthesis or organic compounds, employing advanced techniques. Fall.
Prerequisite: Two semesters of elementary organic chemistry.
FCH 360. Physical Chemistry I (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Includes discussion on the properties of gases and liquids, laws of thermodynamics, solutions and colligative properties, and electrochemical cells. Fall.
Prerequisites: One year of college physics, differential and integral calculus.
FCH 361. Physical Chemistry II (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Includes discussion on electrochemistry, principles of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, chemical kinetics, and basic spectroscopy. Spring.
Prerequisite: FCH 360.
FCH 380. Analytical Chemistry I: Gravimetric, Titrimetric and Potentiometric Analysis (3)
Two hours of lecture and one three-hour laboratory per week. Equilibrium concepts and practical implementations of precipitation, complexation, acid-base and oxidation-reduction processes in quantitative chemical analysis. Fall.
Prerequisites: Two years of undergraduate chemistry and FCH 360 taken concurrently or permission of instructor.
FCH
381. Analytical Chemistry II: Spectroscopic, Chromatographic and Electroanalytical Instrumental Techniques (3)
Two hours of lecture and one three-hour laboratory per week. Theory and practice of technology applications to UV/VIS, AAS, AES, XES, ASV, GLC and HPLC. Spring.
Prerequisites: Two years of undergraduate chemistry and FCH 361, FCH 380 taken concurrently or permission of instructor.
FCH
384. Spectrometric Identification of Organic Compounds (1-2)
Two hours of lecture and discussion per week. The first-half semester (1 credit) will deal with common classes of organic compounds; the second-half semester (1 credit) will deal with more complex structures. The use of complementary information from mass, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet spectrometry will be applied to identification of organic natural products. Spring.
Prerequisites: Organic chemistry; one semester of advanced organic chemistry for second credit.
FCH
390. Drugs from the Wild (3)
Three hours of lecture and discussion per week. This course is designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of the variety of medicinal agents available from natural sources. Economic and societal aspects will be explored as well as scientific ones. In addition to curative agents, discussions will include toxic substances, folk medicinal (including her-bal) preparations, and the so-called "recreational drugs." Fall, odd years.
Prerequisites: Introductory courses in chemistry and biology.
FCH
440. Introduction to Chemical Ecology (3)
Three hours of lecture with discussion per week. Centers on chemical signals among organisms from microbes to man as they affect ecology, physiology and behavior; and as they can be utilized for agriculture, pest management and animal husbandry. Spring.
Prerequisites: Biology (one year), and organic chemistry (one year).
Note: Credit will not be granted for both FCH 440 and EFB 412.
FCH 495. Introduction to Professional Chemistry (1)
The professional chemist’s relationship with industry, government and universities. Employment opportunities for the chemist, professional organizations and unions will be discussed. The selection of a senior research topic and a literature survey will be required. Fall.
Prerequisite: Senior status.
FCH
496. Special Problems in Chemistry (1-3)
An opportunity for a special problem, technique development, independent or unstructured study in an area related to the chemical profession. The work may be technical, professional, or interdis-ciplinary. Advisors outside this department may be solicited. A brief proposal must be presented for approval with specific arrangements outlined including faculty advisor and objectives of the study. A written report will be expected. Fall and Spring.
Prerequisite: Upper-division status.
FCH
497. Undergraduate Seminar (1)
One hour per week. Literature surveys and seminars on topics of current research interest and recent advances in chemistry. Spring.
FCH
498. Introduction to Research (5)
Eighteen hours of laboratory, library search and report writing. Solution of a selected research problem using special laboratory techniques. A written report on data, procedures, results and conclusions. Fall and Spring.
FCH
510. Environmental Chemistry I (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Introduction to the processes that control chemical behavior in aquatic environments, including precipitation, gas exchange, acid-base, redox, complexation and adsorption reactions. Emphasis will be on explanation and prediction of chemical behavior, using computer models where appropriate. Examples will be from the areas of water and wastewater treatment, pollutant fates and geo-chemistry. Spring.
Prerequisites: An introductory course in physical chemistry is required and a short course in computer programming is recommended.
FCH 511. Environmental Chemistry II (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Includes a detailed chemical explanation of current topics of concern in environmental chemistry and the chemistry of pollution. Lectures will cover topics relating to air, soil and biota pollutional impact. Fall.
Prerequisite: Chemistry through physical chemistry or permission of instructor.
FCH
515. Methods of Environmental Chemical Analysis (3)
One hour of lecture and six hours of laboratory per week. An intro-duction to sampling, analytical and quality control procedures necessary to obtain reliable water quality data. All analyses will be performed on a single aquatic system with the purpose of developing a final report characterizing the water quality of that system. Fall.
Prerequisite: A course in quantitative chemical analysis.
FCH
524. Topics in Natural Products Chemistry (3)
Three hours of lecture and discussion per week. A course intended to introduce the student to various types of secondary metabolites including several of past and current interest because of their pronounced biological activities. Modes of chemical reactivity and means of structure determination and syntheses are covered. Spring.
FCH
530. Biochemistry I (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. General biochemistry with emphasis on cellular constituents and metabolic reactions. The chemical, physical and bio-logical properties of amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates and their intermediary metabolism will be discussed. The chemistry of enzymes, energy transfers and biological oxidations will also be covered. Fall. Prerequisite: One year of organic chemistry.
FCH
531. Biochemistry Laboratory (3)
One hour lecture and six hours of laboratory per week on the basic techniques used in biochemical research with an emphasis on proteins and enzymes. Techniques include spectrometry, chromatography, electrophoresis, amino acid analysis, coupled assays, and the isolation and characterization of enzymes. Fall.
Prerequisite: One semester of quantitative analysis with laboratory.
Co-requisite: FCH 530 with permission of instructor.
FCH
532. Biochemistry II (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Topics discussed are: biosynthesis and degradation of amino acids and nucleic acids, protein biosynthesis, and an introduction to molecular biology. Spring.
Prerequisites: FCH 530 and its pre- and co-requisites.
FCH 540. Carbohydrates I: Structure, Reactions and Analysis (2)
Two hours of lecture/discussion per week on the structure, reactions, and analysis of carbohydrates and polysaccharides. Introduction to carbohydrate structure and nomenclature. Overview of important oligosaccharides and major classes of polysaccharides. Reactions of carbohydrates—derivatization, polymerization, degradation. Analysis of carbohydrate molecules—sequence and linkages size, shape, distribution of functional groups. Fall.
Prerequisite: One year of introductory organic chemistry, or permission of instructor.
FCH
550. Polymer Science: Synthesis and Mechanisms (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Introduction to the synthesis of polymers and the mechanism of polymerization processes. Addition homopolymerization and copolymerization by radical, ionic, and coordination type catalysts. Synthesis of block and graft copolymers. Stepwise polymerization, network formation and gelation. Structure of polymers and steroregular polymerization. Degradation of polymers, reactions on polymers, polyelectrolytes. Three hours of lecture. Spring.
Prerequisites: One year of organic chemistry and one year of physical chemistry.
FCH 551. Polymer Techniques (3)
Two hours of lecture/discussion and four hours of laboratory per week; laboratory reports, final exam. Twelve experiments covering the main topics of polymer synthesis (four weeks), molecular weight determination (four weeks), and characterization (four weeks) are selected from areas such as the following: free-radical solution, bulk and emulsion polymerizations; ionic and condensation polymerizations, copolymerization and reactivity ratio determination; osmometry, viscometry, light scattering, gel permeation chromatography, polarized light microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, stress-strain analysis; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy.
The lecture component will include discussions of the laboratory activities as well as related topics such as the preparation of monomers, safe handling methods for monomers, polymers, solvents, catalysts, etc. Fall.
Prerequisites: One year of organic and one year of physical chemistry, or permission of instructor. Co-registration in FCH 552 is recommended.
FCH 552. Polymer Science: Properties and Technology (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Introduction to physical chemistry, physics, processing and technology of synthetic polymers. Polymer solutions, including molecular weight determinations and chain statistics. Polymer solid states, including rubber elasticity, visco-elasticity, the glassy state and the crystalline state. Properties, processing, and technology of films, fibers, elastomers, and foams. Fall.
Prerequisites: One year of organic chemistry and one year of physical chemistry.
FCH
560. Chromatography and Related Separation Sciences (3)
Three hours of lecture and discussion per week. A course designed
to give the student a thorough understanding of analytical and isolation chemistry by modern chromatographic, distributive and molecular sieving techniques. The chemistry of the systems discussed will be stressed as well as the important physical aspects. Spring.
Prerequisites: Two semesters each of organic and general chemistry.
FCH 571 Wood Chemistry I: General Wood Chemistry (2)
Two hours of lecture per week. Introduction to carbohydrate chemistry. Chemistry of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Cellulose derivatives. Distribution of polysaccharides and lignin in wood. Wood extractives. Chemistry of bark. Formation of heartwood. Wood as a chemical raw material. Fall.
Prerequisite: One or two semesters of a three-credit undergraduate course in organic chemistry.
FCH
630. Plant Biochemistry (3)
Three hours of lecture and discussion per week. Includes the bio-chemistry of photosynthetic electron transport and phosphorylation, photo-synthetic carbon fixation, photorespiration, nitrogen fixation, nitrate reduction, photochrome, and plant hormones. The economic, ecological and environmental aspects of plant biochemistry will also be discussed. Spring.
Prerequisites: FCH 530, FCH 532.
FCH
650. Statistical Physics and Chemistry of Macromolecules (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Topics to be discussed are chain statistics, polymer thermodynamics, scaling theory, colloidal particles, viscoelasticity and the glass transition. Spring, even years.
Prerequisites: FCH 360 and FCH 552 or equivalent; consent of instructor.
FCH
796. Special Topics in Chemistry (1-3)
(Credit hours arranged according to nature of topic)
Lectures, conferences and discussion. Advanced topics in physical chemistry, organic chemistry or biochemistry. Fall and Spring.
FCH
797. Graduate Seminar (1)
Presentation and discussion of a selected topic in chemistry. Topics to be selected by participating faculty each semester. Fall and Spring.
FCH
798. Research in Chemistry (Credit hours to be arranged)
Independent research in physical and organic chemistry of synthetic polymers, physical and organic chemistry of natural polymers, organic chemistry of natural products, ecological chemistry and biochemistry. One written report required. Fall, Spring and Summer.
FCH
899. Master’s Thesis Research (Credit hours to be arranged)
Research and independent study for the master’s degree and thesis. Fall, Spring and Summer.
FCH
997. Seminar (1)
Seminars scheduled weekly; an average of 20 to 30 seminars are given annually. Discussion of recent advances in chemistry. Credit is given only once to a student. Fall and Spring.
FCH
999. Doctoral Thesis Research (Credit hours to be arranged)
Research and independent study for the doctoral degree and dissertation. Fall, Spring and Summer.