Chemistry 252
Organic Chemistry II
Professor V. Birman
Spring 2008

Table of Contents
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Final Exam Key and Grade Cut Offs now online.

Course Grade Cut Offs now online.

Index

Index

Index

GENERAL INFORMATION

Lecturer: Assistant Professor Vladimir B. Birman
Office: McMillan Labs 409
Phone: 935-9188
Teaching Assistants: Xing Yang
Mellissae Stuart
Prashanth Padakanti
Libo Hu 		Room: LS 400 C Phone: TBA
Textbook, etc: 1. L. G. Wade, Jr., "Organic Chemistry, Sixth edition". Prentice-Hall, 2006.
2. J. W. Simek, "Solutions Manual: Organic Chemistry, Sixth edition ", Prentice-Hall, 2006.
3. "Flexible StereoChemistry" molecular model kit.

All three of the above are available at the W.U. bookstore and are required for this course. Copies of the textbook and the solutions manual are also available on Reserve in Olin Library.
Lectures: Mon., Wed,. Fri. 9:00-10:00 AM, Lab Sciences 300

READING/HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:

Students are expected to read the applicable sections in Wade before attending the lecture that covers those sections. Soon after each lecture, students should reread those sections and compare the text to their lecture notes. At the time of this second reading, the in-chapter problems should be worked.

Homework problems in Wade are given both within each chapter (boxed in blue) and at the end of each chapter. Each student should work all of the in-chapter problems and as many of the end-of-chapter problems as time permits (all if possible). Homework will not be collected: each student is to correct his/her own answers by consulting the "Solutions Manual." It is possible that selected homework problems will be duplicated on the exams.

LECTURES:

The quantity of material to be learned in Chemistry 252 is too large to permit all of it to be covered in the lectures. The lectures will focus on the key ideas and on those parts of the material that the lecturer judges to most be in need of emphasis or explanation. However, you are responsible for all of the material in all of the chapters covered unless otherwise instructed. The lecturer will assume that the students have read the corresponding sections in Wade before attending the lectures and that the students have a reasonable command and knowledge of the material covered in the first semester. Lectures will be in Lab Sciences 300 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00-10:00 AM.

HELP AVAILABLE:

Chem 252 Help Room: The help room Lab Sciences 400C will be open Monday through Friday from 3-6 PM. One of the Teaching Assistants for CHEM 252 will be available to answer students' questions about the course material.

Problem Solving Sessions: On Tuesdays from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. a problem solving session will be held by one of the TA's, who will discuss homework problems and demonstrate approaches to practice exam questions. On Tuesdays prior to an exam (2/5, 2/26, 3/25, 4/22, and 5/6) this meeting will be held by Prof. Birman and will serve as a general help session. These sessions will normally take place in Lab Sciences 300, except that on 02/12, 03/18, and 04/15 they will be held in Brown 118 and on 03/25, in Louderman 458.

Office Hours: Prof. Birman will have open Office hours in McMillen 409 from 10 AM until 12:00 noon on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Please do not try to schedule appointments by phone or e-mail or attempt unscheduled "walk-ins".

EXAMINATIONS:

General: All exams will be closed book and closed notes. Each midterm exam will have a maximum score of 100 points. The final exam will be worth 200 points. Room assignments for exams will be made alphabetically, and will be both announced in class, and listed on the course web page. (Please do not phone the Chemistry Department office for exam room numbers.) After each exam, answers will be posted in the glass case on the 2nd floor of the Lab Sciences building in front of the elevator.

Length of Exams: Two (2) hours will be allowed for each of the four midterm exams and the final exam. The midterm exams will be given from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm on the days indicated in the schedule. The final exam will be given on Wednesday, May 7th from 8:00 am to10:00 am. The midterm exams and the final exam are each designed to take no more than one (1) hour to complete. The purpose of the increased time (2 hours) is to allow each student to demonstrate depth of understanding, while minimizing the effect of speed of reading and recall.

Attendance at Exams: For a sufficiently serious emergency, a student can be excused from one (but no more than one) midterm exam. The student should request an excuse from Prof. Birman by telephone or in person; if possible, the request should be made before the examination. The semester grade of a student who has been excused from one examination will be calculated as if the grade on that examination had been the arithmetic mean of the grades on the three other midterm exams and adjusted to reflect the mean score of the exam missed. No make-up exams will be given.

Return of Exams: Each student can choose between having his or her graded exam either placed in the alphabetical bins on the 2nd floor of the new Lab Scienes Building or held for the student to pick up individually. Your choice can be indicated by checking one of the two boxes on the cover of your exam. If neither box is checked, your exam will be placed in the bins. If you choose to pick up your exam individually, you must do so from the TA during TA office hours. You will be required to present identification (bearing your photo) before you are given your exam.

Regrading Policy: If you wish to appeal the grading of your exam, you must return it through the slot into the marked locker on the 4th floor of McMillen before noon on the Monday following the exam. You must staple to your exam a note that states which question(s) is(are) to be regraded and why you believe that your answer deserves more credit. Nothing additional (notes, explanations, etc.) should be written on the exam and NO changes or erasures should be made on the exam before regrading. A percentage of the exams are photocopied and compared to the regrade requests. Cheating will not be tolerated! All such cases will be referred to Washington University's Committee on Academic Integrity. If the Committee on Academic Integrity finds a student guilty of cheating, then the penalty will be without exception automatic failure of the course. Please remember that regrade requests are not a good way to ask questions about science. If your answer differs from the answer key and you do not understand why it is wrong, then you should bring your exam to office hours or the help room so that it can discussed. Regrades are only for fixing grading errors (i.e. addition errors, a correct answer that matches the answer key but was marked wrong, etc.)

Letter Grades: For each of the five examinations (four midterm exams plus one final exam), the professor will determine the correspondence between numerical scores and letter grades by reading a random sample of exams. Note that the percentages of A's, B's, etc. are thus not predetermined, but result from the professor's assessment of the performance of the class. At the end of the semester, each student's numerical examination grades will be summed, and the corresponding semester letter grade will be determined by comparison to the sums of the numerical boundaries (A/B, B/C, etc.) on the five examinations. No student will receive a lower semester letter grade than that which corresponds to the sum of the individual exam scores. However, in cases of marked improvement during the semester or the presence of one atypically low hour exam score, the semester letter grade may be higher than that which corresponds to the sum of the individual exam scores. The professor's judgment of each individual case is the sole basis for a decision to raise (or not to raise)a grade or to assign a "+" or "-" to a grade. Such decisions are not subject to appeal or negotiation. Semester letter grades will be posted in the glass case on the 2nd floor of the Lab Sciences building by the elevator as soon as possible after the final examination.

On-line Information:

This syllabus and other information concerning the course during the semester will be available on-line. The address for the Chemistry Department WWW Homepage is as follows: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu

The address for the Chem 252 Spring 2008 course page is as follows: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~courses/spring_08/252_08.htm

Index

Schedule of Lectures and Reading Assignments (Tentative):

Lecture Date Chapters in Wade and Topic
1 M 1/14 16 Aromatic Compounds
2 W 1/16  
3 F 1/18  
4 M 1/23 17 Reactions of Aromatic Compounds
5 W 1/25  
6 F 1/28  
7 M 1/30 12 Infrared Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry
8 W 2/1  
9 F 2/4  
10 W 2/6 13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Exam 1 2/6 Wednesday (Chapters 16, 17, 12)
11 F 2/8  
12 M 2/11  
13 W 2/13  
14 F 2/15 18 Ketones and Aldehydes
15 M 2/18  
16 W 2/20  
17 F 2/22  
18 M 2/25 19 Amines
19 W 2/27  
Exam 2 2/27 Wednesday (Chapters 12, 13, 18, part of 19)
20 F 2/29  
21 M 3/3 20 Carboxylic Acids
22 W 3/5  
23 F 3/7 21 Derivatives of Carboxylic Acids (related topics in 26-7)
(SPRING BREAK WEEK 3/10-3/16)
24 M 3/17  
25 W 3/19  
26 F 3/21  
27 M 3/24 22 Additions and Condensations of Enols and Enolate Ions
28 W 3/26  
Exam 3 3/26 Wednesday (Chapters 19, 20, 21 and part of 22)
29 F 3/28  
30 M 3/31  
31 W 4/2  
32 F 4/4  
33 M 4/7  
34 W 4/9 23 Carbohydrates and Nucleic Acids
35 F 4/11  
36 M 4/14  
37 W 4/16  
38 F 4/18 24 Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins
39 M 4/21  
40 W 4/23  
Exam 4 4/23 Wednesday (Chapters 22, 23)
41 F 4/25  
Final Exam 5/7 W 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.

Index

Chem 112
Chem 152
Chem 252
Chem 257
Chem 402
Chem 436
Chem 445
Chem 452
Chem 458
Chem 464
Chem 470
Chem 475
Chem 515
Chem 540
Chem 541
Chem 542
Chem 550
Chem 558
Chem 571
Chem 578
Chem 584
      
 
Chemistry Department
 
Chemistry Department Main Course Page
  
Washington University

Comments can be directed to:   www@chemistry.wustl.edu

 

Last revised 1/14/08