TEXTBOOK: John McMurry, "Organic Chemistry", 6th Edition, 2004, Brooks-Cole Publishing Co. is required.

Inexpensive sets of molecular models may be purchased in the T.U. Bookstore .

The purpose of this course is to enable you to understand the basic principles of organic chemistry. To succeed you will need to know and use the nomenclature of organic chemistry and you will need to be able to understand structural drawings and draw structures of some simple organic compounds yourself. You will need learn about the dynamics and reactivity of organic molecules and master sufficient spectroscopy to convince yourself that regions outside the visible portion of the spectrum can be utilized to facilitate our understanding of structure as well as what transpires during reactions.

Further it is important to understand:

• (1) That this course involves cumulative, vertical learning. That which is learned in the first and subsequent weeks remains needed continuously, throughout the year, even into the last week!
• (2) The pace is rapid because a large volume of material must be covered to prepare you for subsequent endeavours. A significant amount of material has already been left out.
• (3) It is widely believed that Organic Chemistry is "relentlessly cumulative". The belief is not without substance.

Some Friendly Advice: Organic Chemistry is a difficult course. For many, it will be the most difficult and time-consuming of your college career. You can make it easier on yourself by doing the following: (1) Do as many problems as you have time for beyond that minimum assigned . (2) Study regularly. If you fall behind, it's hard to catch up. (3) Memorize as much as you can, paying attention to summaries at the end of each chapter. Since there is too much material to memorize everything, you should have enough so it can be applied to understanding theory and method.

So, to reiterate...experience dictates...

• (1) Do as many problems as you have time for beyond those assigned. There is a wealth of material on the WWW and there are many other fine books with excellent problem sets.

• (2) Study regularly. Year-after-year, we are told by bright students who have not done as well as they wished... If you fall behind, you can't catch up. The course cannot be mastered in the last two weeks of the term.

• (3) Memorize some key material such as definitions and ways of naming compounds. Try to summarize the chapters on your own. There is too much material to memorize everything. You must attempt to understand theory and method which you can apply to situations you have not seen before.

You MUST register for a recitation section of the course. Quizzes will be given in recitation and a portion of your final grade depends upon the scores you receive (see below). It is common to find that questions you did not have time to ask (or for which there was not enough time for a complete answer to be given) in lecture can be discussed in recitation.

Chemistry 123 is a separate course that has Chemistry 121 as a co-requisite. Information for the Laboratory course is provided separately when you go to laboratory and questions should be directed to the Organic Chemistry Laboratory Coordinator: Dr. A. Findeisen; BE 400, (215-204-7161), afindeis@temple.edu.

Your attendance at all lectures and recitations is expected and regular attendance is positively correlated with success in this course.

Grading is based upon a percentage scale. If you score more than 85% you are doing "A" work; scores less than 50% generally are unsatisfactory. Borderline grades are decided upon in consultation with recitation teaching assistants (TA's). There will be two 50 minute examinations worth 200 points each (for a total of 400 points) given during regular class time and a final examination worth 400 points (on Friday, 6 May 2005; 8:30-10:30 AM ). The examinations are NOT multiple choice (the operating assumption being that if you know something you can write it down). Old examinations for this course are posted on the "Retrospective" portion of the http://photon.chem.temple.edu site that can be accessed from any ON CAMPUS computer but the questions will not be repeated and thus the old examinations should be used to help show what kinds of problems can be expected. The recitation score is 200 points (from 5 quizzes worth 50 points each with the lowest grade omitted).

The maximum score is 1000 points.

There will be NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES IN RECITATION. If you miss an exam for any reason, your grade will be decided upon the work that you have completed.

PLEASE NOTE: Except for the final examination where time constraints preclude my preferences, I grade all of the lecture examinations myself. I believe this helps me understand where lack of communication is leading to difficulties. The grading copy will be posted on the http://photon.chem.temple.edu site shortly after the examination is given. Graded papers will be returned to you either in your Recitation class or in the Lecture portion of the class as soon as possible.

All quizzes and examinations are "Closed Book". No books, notes, models, computers, or reference material may be consulted during the test period. You will not need a calculator. Giving or receiving information during examinations is a violation of the Temple Student Discipline Code and will result, at minimum, in a grade of "F" for this course.

A grading copy will be posted on the http://photon.chem.temple.edu site (that can be accessed from any ON CAMPUS computer) shortly after the examination is given. Graded papers will be returned to you either in your Recitation class or in the Lecture portion of the class as soon as possible.

I do not currently plan on discussing the examination in lecture or requesting the examination be discussed in recitation unless you have questions .

Answers to all assigned problems can be found in the Study Guide /Solutions Manual or the text itself. It is essential that you work through each problem and understand the theory/method used for its solution. It is important to do the work before the recitation in which it is discussed so that questions you have can be answered. Experience has shown that students who do more than the assigned problems do well in this course.

Tuesday 3 May and Wednesday 4 May are study days. Final examinations begin on Thursday 5 May. The final examination for this course is scheduled for Friday, 6 May 2005 from 8:30 - 10:30 AM.