Handbook

Organic Chemistry is about the reactions, structures and synthesis of molecules that have a carbon-based backbone. These materials form the basis of all known life, most pharmaceuticals and a wide range of materials. In this course, we look at the skills that chemists need to determine the structure of the compounds that they have isolated or prepared; how to determine the way they will react; and introduce strategies used in synthesis. We introduce methods for structure determination such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and infra-red (IR) and more. Organic reaction mechanisms are investigated using traditional functional groups and reagents, and an understanding of the chemical driving forces that lead to particular products will be gained.