| Prof. Irvin J. Levy Office Hours: MWF, 8:30-9:30 AM, 12:30-1:00 PM T, 12:00-1:00 PM; or by appointment |
This semester we will expand our intitial understanding of green chemistry by producing outreach projects to enhance green chemistry literacy for others.
TEXTS

1. Organic Chemistry, 10th ed., Graham Solomons & Craig Fryhle
2. The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual, 8th ed., Zubrick
(Recommended) Study Guide to Organic Chemistry, 10th ed., Solomons & Fryhle
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
1. Bound notebook for laboratory
2. Safety goggles as required by Department
3. Protective gloves
(Recommended) Darling Flexible Stereochemical Models
MODES OF EVALUATION
Organic Chemistry is very much like a language. As with any language, mastery is only possible with regular practice. Accordingly, homework assignments following the enclosed Class Schedule will be given daily. It is expected that the assignment will be completed before the next lecture. Homework will be assigned to help clarify important concepts; however, homework will not be collected and will not directly affect the course grade. Homework does, of course, affect the grade in that it is unlikely that the course content can be mastered without significant practice. Self-evaluation of homework will be possible through the use of the Study Guide.
A brief quiz covering recent lecture material will normally be given at the beginning of every other class period. The first quiz will occur on the fourth day of class. Regular attendance is, thus, necessary to achieve success in the course. The three lowest quiz scores will be discarded when calculating the final quiz score. Make-up quizzes will not be administered under any circumstances. All quizzes are closed-book, closed notes.
Since the ability to communicate effectively is a key to success in scientific endeavors, a service-learning assignment (the Green Organic Literacy forum, or GOLum) is an important element in this course. GOLum will engage a team of several students in the preparation of a useful end product to communicate the principles of green chemistry to an audience external to this course. Due to the complexity of this project, several intermediate milestones are due (sse below). Failure to observe these due dates will result in a one-half letter grade reduction in the final project grade for each milestone missed.
Three Opportunities will be administered on the dates
The final examination will be a multiple choice standardized American Chemical Society examination which is cumulative over both courses.
Any student scoring at the national 90th percentile or higher on the this exam will automatically receive a grade of A in the course provided
all laboratory work has also been completed. The study guide for this examination is available for purchase
from the ACS at this link.
Laboratory work will be assessed in the following way. A student is expected to attend all labs (or makeup assignment if missed through excusable
absence), properly utilize a laboratory notebook (which will be subject to examination without notice), show evidence of preparation for lab
(through lab quizzes, flowcharts, etc.), and strictly adhere to all chemical hygiene rules. It is usually very difficult to make up missed labs,
thus it is essential that lab attendance be very faithful. The lab grade begins at 100% and will be decreased by 10% for each nonperformance of the
expected standards. After a one time grace period (no penalty), upon violation of a chemical hygiene rule, the student will be asked to leave the
lab for the remainder of the class period. This will result in two reductions to the lab grade (chemical hygiene violation, nonexcused absence).
Laboratory notebooks will be prepared by the student and will be assessed by a combination of self-evaluation and peer-evaluation (neither of which
will affect the actual grade in the course) and by evaluation by the lab instructor. Students who perform all laboratory work, observe all chemical
safety regulations, and maintain an acceptable laboratory notebook will receive full credit for laboratory effort (representing 67% of the lab
grade). During the final laboratory session, a laboratory examination will be administered. The score on this examination represents 33% of the
lab grade.
Scores on graded materials are not curved unless otherwise indciated. Final grades will be computed as follows:
30% - Three Opportunities
GREEN ORGANIC LITERACY FORUM (GOLum) ASSIGNMENT
Last semester was a time to gather with a team and develop a plan for a GOLum project. This semester you will bring your project to
completion. Several important dates apply to the various milestones in the project. The timely submission of all items is essential to success in the project.
Details of the milestones follow. Milestones will only be accepted electronically (unless previously arranged) by submission to green-chem@gordon.edu with all
needed files attached. All milestones are due no later than 5pm on the due date. Submissions received after the 5pm deadline will be penalized.
Milestones
In this milestone you will report the following:
In this milestone you will report the following:
In this milestone all of the members of your team will gather with the professor to brainstorm
about the project, find intial resources, and clarify the goals. Every member of the team must
attend this 15-20 minute meeting which will be scheduled in advance.
Based on the purpose of your project, you need to develop specific expertise in green chemistry as well as having general
knowledge of the topic. In this assignment you are to compile resources (books, articles, web resources, people, etc.) that can be used
to support your outreach and to provide your "training" as you prepare to reach out. Include
a descriptive entry for every web site, article, book, handout, or person (other than your team members or your professor) that is
relevant to your project.
You are to resubmit your Team Report (from the previous milestone) noting what tasks have been accomplished and altering the timeline
as needed. Add a paragraph that clearly states change in the report from the previous version and the reason for those changes.
During the months of March and April, projects will be nearing completion. Teams will need peer support to complete their projects. For
example, if students produce a video, they will need others to critique their script or raw footage; if students produce written materials,
they will need others to critique their written work; if students prepare new lab activities, they will need others to test their activities;
if students are visiting a high school, they will need an audience on our campus to run a "dress rehearsal".
Each student in the class will be required to perform three (3) critiques in support of their peers. In order for a critique to count, the student must
first confirm (verbally) with the professor that the critique is permitted (for example, I can't have 20 people critique the same video!). Unless otherwise
directed, credit is received when the student sends a WRITTEN critique to all members of the team along with a copy to green-chem@gordon.edu. In order to
receive credit, the written critique must be submitted within seven (7) days of the peer review.
Your team will submit a white 1" binder containing the following:
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
Make-up examinations will be allowed only if the absence is previously cleared with the instructor or in the event of an emergency. In the case of
illness, a written excuse from the health center is required. In the case of a personal emergency, a note from the Center for Student Development is
required.
Make-up quizzes are not administered under any circumstances. Really. We drop low quiz scores, though.
Your failure to register in time with your professor and the ASC may
compromise our ability to provide the accommodations, so please
follow the above procedure. Questions or disputes about
accommodations should be immediately referred to the Academic
Support Center.
Gordon College is committed to assisting students with documented
disabilities. If you have a disability, it is essential that you
obtain appropriate documentation of the disability and that you
understand the accommodations, appropriate to the specific
disability, to which you are entitled.
15% - Quizzes (drop three low scores)
25% - Laboratory (includes lab exam)
20% - GOLum
10% - Final examination (curved)
CD with relevant documents, handouts, photos, and copy of all of the following materials 1 CD Name of project and team members
Brief bio statements (with photos) and abstract1 page maximum Description of the audience about 1 page Description of the presentation forum about 1 page Mirror: Copies of all material presented for the audience variable, 5-15 pages Final annotated bibliography variable, 1-10 pages Final action plan 1-2 pages Written critiques from peers 1-3 pages Your own critique, analysis of outcomes, suggestions for future work 1-2 pages
Students with disabilities who may need academic accommodations
should follow this procedure:
Meeting(s) Chapter Topic Jan 20 --- GOLum group team meetings
Milestone #1; Individual Report of Team Meeting
details in emailJan 23 12.1-3 Syllabus
Quickstart assigned
Introduction to Organic redox reactions
Reductions: Alcohols from carbonyl compounds.LAB Jan 24 handout Sodium borohydride reduction of a ketone: Preparation of meso-hydrobenzoin Jan 25 12.4 Oxidations: Synthesis of carbonyl compounds. Jan 27 12.5-8 The Grignard Reaction
Milestone #2 due; Team Report
one per team, emailed to green-chem@gordon.eduJan 30 --- chapter concluded
Milestone #3 this week; Group meeting with professor
as scheduled during last classLAB Jan 31 handout Selective Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol Feb 1 13.1-5 Conjugated Unsaturated Systems
The Game of ResonanceFeb 3 --- continued Feb 6 --- continued LAB Feb 7 handout Grignard Reaction: Preparation of Triphenylmethanol Feb 8 13.6-11 Dienes and the Diels-Alder Reaction Feb 10 --- continued Feb 13 14 Aromaticity
Milestone #4 due; Annotated Bibliography & Revised Team Report
one per team, emailed to green-chem@gordon.eduLAB Feb 14 handout Aqueous Diels-Alder Reaction Feb 15 --- concluded Feb 17 15 Reactions of aromatic compounds Feb 20 --- continued LAB Feb 21 handout Synthesis of Iodovanillin Feb 22 -- continued Feb 24 --- * * * OPPORTUNITY #1 * * * Feb 27 15 EAS, continued LAB Feb 28 --- continued Feb 29, LEAP DAY --- continued Mar 1 Special Event 9th Annual Green Chemistry Distiguished Lecturer
Dr. Michael Cann, Scranton University
4:30 PM KOSC AuditoriumMar 2 15 EAS, concluded, at last! Mar 5 16 Aldehydes and ketones I.
Nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl groupLAB Mar 6 J. Chem. Educ. article Green, Enzymatic Synthesis of Divanillin Mar 7 --- Wolff-Kishner Reduction, Link 1, Link 2 --- --- Spring Break Mar 19 --- Olefin Methathesis, Link 1, Link 2 LAB Mar 20 --- Synthesis Team Projects
Introduction and First StepsMar 21 17 Carboxylic acids and their derivatives Mar 23 --- continued
Opportunity #2 DistributedMar 26 --- No lecture
GOLum Work TimeLAB Mar 27 Solomons 9.1-9.11C
(skip 9.5, 9.9D)
Practice problems:
9.28NMR video
DUE ON FRIDAY AS PART OF OPPORTUNITY #2: LinkMar 28 --- No lecture
GOLum Work TimeMar 30 --- concluded
* * * OPPORTUNITY #2 COLLECTED * * *Apr 2 17 continued LAB Apr 3 --- Continue Team Projects Apr 4 --- concluded Apr 6 --- Easter Break Apr 9 --- Easter Break LAB Apr 10 --- Continue Team Projects Apr 11 18 Enolate chemistry, Part I Apr 13 -- concluded Apr 16 19 Enolate chemistry, Part II LAB Apr 17 --- Continue Team Projects Apr 18 -- continued Apr 20 --- concluded Apr 23 20 Amines LAB Apr 24 --- Conclude Team Projects Apr 25 --- concluded
Milestone #6. GOLum binder is dueApr 27 21 Phenols and aryl halides
Nucleophilic aryl substitutionApr 30 --- * * * OPPORTUNITY #3 * * * LAB May 1 --- Lab Exam
Check-out
Preparation for poster presentationMay 2 21 concluded May 4 --- TBA: Special Topics May 7 --- Research Poster Peer Presentation May 8 --- Thursday schedule, No Organic Lab May 9 --- Conclusion, Discussion of final
URS 2012; Poster day for Synthesis TeamsMonday, May 14
9:00-11:00 AM--- * * * FINAL EXAMINATION * * *