Organic Chemistry 1

This subject introduces students to the reactions characteristic of the common families of carbon compounds and explores the details and implications of the reaction mechanisms involved. A primary objective is for students to gain an appreciation of the relationship of molecular structure to reactivity across a broad range of functional groups. Students have the opportunity to perform many of these reactions in the laboratory, and to evaluate the success of their experiments by analysis of their reaction products using gas chromatography and infra-red spectroscopy as well as mp, bp and refractive index measurements critically. These are skills required for professional chemists.