Unit ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- Course
- Biological sciences
- Study-unit Code
- 55999308
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Oriana Piermatti
- Teachers
-
- Oriana Piermatti
- Hours
- 56 ore - Oriana Piermatti
- CFU
- 8
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2025
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Base
- Area
- Discipline chimiche
- Sector
- CHIM/06
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- Structure and bonding. Acids and bases. Alkanes and cycloalkanes. An overview of organic reactions. Alkenes and alkynes. Stereochemistry. Aromatic compounds. Alkyl halides, alcohols, phenols, thiols, ethers, sulfides, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and carboxylic acid derivatives, amines , amino acids, and carbohydrates
- Reference texts
- 1. John McMurry- “Chimica Organica-Un approccio biologico”- Zanichelli;
2. J. G. Smith – Fondamenti di Chimica organica”- Mc Graw Hill Educational;
3. K. Peter, C.Vollhardt, N. E. Schore- “Chimica Organica” – Zanichelli;
4. D. Klein- “Fondamenti di Chimica Organica” – Person;
5. Teacher lectures. - Educational objectives
- A student, at the end of the course should be able to approach the other courses, with a sound knowledge of modern basic organic chemistry and the connections with the biological processes.
Particularly, the student should be able to: apply the knowledge of the hybridization of C to the different classes of organic compounds; define and apply the concept of isomerism; understand the significance of electron delocalization in benzene and describe some characteristics of the aromatic ring; know the aliphatic and aromatic compounds, and give them a IUPAC name; recognize the characteristic functional groups of individual classes of compounds and assign a name to each compound; know the main chemical and physical properties of the major classes of organic cpmpounds, the preparation methods , reactions-mechanisms and some characteristic reactions. - Prerequisites
- To understand and apply the topics of the course, is required a good knowledge of the basic concepts of general chemistry about the atomic structure, chemical bonding, acidity and alkalinity, equilibrium constants. These concepts will be revisited in the first lessons of the course for those who have not yet taken the exam in General Chemistry.
- Teaching methods
- The course is organized as follows:
- Lectures on all subjectsof the course
- Classroom exercises during which questions and exercises will be proposed and discussed - Other information
- Attendance is highly recommended
- Learning verification modality
- An oral exam aimed at ascertaining the level of knowledge about the fundamental concepts and processes of organic chemistry. The examination consists of 3-4 questions with closed stimulus and open answer. Test duration 40 min.
The exam will allow verifying the achievement of the expected training objectives in relation to the professional training of the biologist.
Students with disabilities and/or DSA (Specific Learning Desorders) are invited to visit the page dedicated to compensatory tools and dispensatory measures and to get in touch in advance with the teacher to evaluate the most suitable instruments (https://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa). - Extended program
- Electronic structure, hybridization, and chemical bond. Structural formula representations. Bond polarity. Formal charge and resonance. Acids and bases. Functional groups.
Alkanes. IUPAC nomenclature. Isomerism. Conformational analysis. Newman projections. Cycloalkanes: stability, conformation, and cis–trans isomerism. Cyclohexane conformations, axial and equatorial bonds.
Types of organic reactions. Electrophilic and nucleophilic sites. Energy/reaction coordinate diagrams. Transition state. Reaction intermediates: carbocations, carbanions, and radicals.
Alkenes: structure and preparation. Geometric isomerism. E,Z nomenclature. Cahn–Ingold–Prelog rules. Electrophilic addition reactions to alkenes. Addition of hydrogen halides and water. Carbocations: formation, structure, and stability. Markovnikov’s rule and regiochemistry. Halogen addition. Hydrogen addition. Hydroboration–oxidation. Hydroxylation reactions. Dienes: stability. Reactivity of conjugated dienes: 1,2- and 1,4-additions.
Alkynes: structure and preparation. Electrophilic addition reactions to alkynes. Reduction of alkynes. Acidity of terminal alkynes and acetylide ions.
Aromatic compounds: nomenclature. Structure and stability of benzene, aromaticity and Hückel’s rule, aromatic heterocycles. Mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution. Nitration, sulfonation, halogenation, Friedel–Crafts alkylation and acylation reactions. Effect of substituents on reactivity and orientation. Inductive and resonance effects. Activating and deactivating groups. Polysubstituted benzenes.
Stereochemistry: chirality. Stereocenters. Enantiomers. Absolute configuration. Determination of R/S configuration, sequence rules. Optical activity and specific rotation. Racemic mixtures. Resolution of racemic mixtures. Fischer projections. Compounds with multiple chiral centers: enantiomers and diastereoisomers. Meso compounds. Stereochemistry of selected reactions.
Alkyl halides: nomenclature and preparation. Aliphatic nucleophilic substitution reactions. SN1 and SN2 mechanisms: kinetics and stereochemistry. Competition between SN1 and SN2. Solvent effects: polar aprotic solvents. Beta-elimination reactions. E2 and E1 mechanisms. Competition between substitution and elimination.
Alcohols: nomenclature and physical properties. Acidity of alcohols. Preparation and reactivity. Conversion of alcohols to alkyl halides. Dehydration and oxidation reactions. Phenols: acidic properties and comparison with alcohols. Ethers, epoxides, thiols, and sulfides: nomenclature, properties, preparation, and reactions.
Aldehydes and ketones: nomenclature, preparation, and reactivity. Oxidation. Nucleophilic addition reactions. Addition of water, alcohols, nitrogen derivatives, hydride ions, and Grignard reagents. Reactivity of carbonyl compounds at the alpha carbon. Acidity of alpha hydrogens. Keto–enol tautomerism. Enolate ions. Reactions via enol or enolate ions. Halogenation of ketones. Aldol condensation.
Carboxylic acids: nomenclature, structure, and properties. Acidity and substituent effects. Preparation. Nitriles: nomenclature and reactivity. Carboxylic acid derivatives: nomenclature and reactivity. Nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction: general mechanism. Reactivity of carboxylic acids and preparation of their derivatives. Relative reactivity of acyl derivatives. Hydrolysis, alcoholysis, aminolysis, and reduction. Beta-dicarbonyl compounds and further study of enolate chemistry.
Amines: structure and properties. Basicity. Comparison with amides. Synthesis of aliphatic and aromatic amines. Reactivity. Heterocyclic amines: pyrrole and pyridine.
Biomolecules. Proteins: amino acid structure, isoelectric point, primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure of proteins. Carbohydrates: classification and structure. Formation of cyclic hemiacetals. Mutarotation. Disaccharides and polysaccharides. - Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- The course aims to provide quality, equitable and inclusive education as a basis for improving people's lives and achieving sustainable development.