RCHE 101
General, Organic, and Biochemistry
Note: This is a four credit course which runs for 13 weeks.
This course is designed for students coming from diverse backgrounds; it surveys some fundamental concepts and definitions in General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. The course braids together different sub-disciplines within the larger domain of Chemistry with an emphasis on biological systems. As often as possible the course explores relevant issues in human diseases and drug discovery. Concepts covered include scientific methodology; error and measurement; atoms and spectroscopy; chemical bonding; chemical reactions, kinetics and thermodynamics; acids and bases; basic organic chemistry concepts; biomolecules; enzymes; carbohydrate metabolism; fatty acid metabolism; genomics.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
Describe the different approaches in scientific discovery, including the scientific method; recognize & identify sources of errors in measurement; articulate the fundamentals concepts of matter, force, force energy; deliberate on the details of atomic architecture, subatomic particles, stabilizing forces, chemical bonding; and diligently map chemical reactivity to atomic and molecular structure.
Describe the interactions of molecules in solution: chemical kinetics & thermodynamics, acid/base reactions, aqueous reaction chemistry, electron transfer reactions.
Distinguish between different classes of organic compounds, show familiarity with organic nomenclature, draw structures, and describe some common organic reactions.
Recognize different classes of biomolecules, including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids and other metabolites, and understand their respective and interrelated roles in biological systems. Elucidate the principles of enzymatic reactions and kinetics.
Discuss the overall scheme of cellular metabolism and respiration, showing understanding of the broad details of biosynthetic and degradative pathways of carbohydrate, lipid, amino acid and nucleic acids.
