Organic Review Topics
To ease the transition to Organic Chemistry, the organic faculty highly recommend that a student review the following concepts from CHEM 129/130/131 before the first class in CHEM 329 (Organic Chemistry I). Links are to the CHEM 120/121 outcome statements.
- Units and Measurements
- Common metric prefixes and conversions
- Density
- Exponential notation
- Significant figures
- Basic Atomic Theory
- Isotopes
- Structure of the nucleus
- Atomic Theory
- Computation of molecular weights of compounds
- Stoichiometry of Reactions
- Balancing equations
- Calculating limiting reagents
- Calculating theoretical and percent reaction yields
- Periodic Table
- Periodic trends in properties and reactivity of the elements especially electronegativity
- Understand the utility of the numbers of the periodic table, e.g. atomic number, atomic mass
- Valence
- Bonding
- Orbitals
- Ionic and covalent bonds
- Lewis dot structures
- Octet rule
- Resonance
- Formal charge and the Electroneutrality Principle
- Predicting molecular shape and molecular polarity from Lewis dot structure using VSEPR
- Valence Bond Theory (overlap model of bonding, hybridization, s and p bonds)
- Intermolecular Interactions
- Types of intermolecular interactions
- How they pertain to solubility and physical properties of molecules
- Thermochemistry, Kinetics and Equilibrium
- Enthalpy and calorimetry
- Entropy and the Gibbs energy
- Bond energies
- Reaction rates and rate laws
- Activation energies (including temperature dependence of reactions)
- Basics of reaction mechanisms
- Catalysis
- Reversible reactions and equilibria
- Equilibrium constants (what they are, what do they tell us, basic manipulations)
- Le Chatelier’s Principle
- Difference between kinetics and thermodynamics
- Acids and Bases
- General properties of acids and bases
- Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry definitions
- pH scale
- Acid-base equilibria, pKa values and basic manipulations
Last Update: August 22, 2011