Each class will commence with a five-minute reading quiz. The quiz will be presented at 12:30 PM and collected at precisely 12:35 PM. The class period will be conducted as a problem-solving period. Questions will be posed for student discussion. Students will be expected to work through the material. Attempts will be made to generate demonstrations, examples and summaries, but it is the students' responsibility to master the material.

The emphasis of the course is sixfold: the naming of organic compounds, their three-dimensional structures, their physical properties, the general preparations of classes of compounds, the chemical reactions of these compound classes, and the mechanisms for these reactions (a mechanism is a specific sequence of bond-breaking and bond-making steps). The intention is that the student should develop the ability to look at a chemical structure and predict the common properties and reactions. The amount of material to be covered is quite large (approximately 500 textbook pages). Therefore it is imperative that you keep up with the course. To encourage this behavior, each lecture will begin with a reading quiz based upon the assigned readings for that day. The classes will focus on problem solving with active interaction among class members and the instructor.

The lecture grade will be determined by four hour examinations and the final examination. The tentative dates and examination coverage are

No make-up examinations are contemplated. Make-up examinations will be given only at the request of your department chairperson or a college dean.

This text contains an excellent set of problems. It is recommended that you solve the problems in the running text as you read the material. This will serve to relieve the reading and to test your comprehension of the text. The problems at the end of the chapters can be used to further refine your grasp of the material. To encourage problem solving, you can expect to see chapter problems on the hour examinations. We will cover Chapters 1-11 in sequence, jump to 14 if time permits. We will begin the second semester with Chapter 14. To encourage your working the chapter problems, every effort will be made to mimic the style and nature of these problems in preparing the examinations. The supplementary texts include a study guide for the lecture text. This guide presents detailed solutions to the text problems and can be useful only if you first attempt the problems on your own. Assistance is available from your lecture and/or laboratory instructor.

The course grade is generated from lecture and laboratory contributions. Both the lecture and laboratory portions of the course must be passed to pass the course.

Lecture 75%
Laboratory 25%

The laboratory grade is determined solely by the laboratory instructor. The lecture grade is determined as follows:

Hour Examinations 67%
Final Examination 33%

The lecture grade is curved. Normally the highest ten percent of the grade range is an A, the next 10-15 percent a B, etc. However, the instructor reserves the right to slightly expand or contract these ranges to adjust for overlapping or widely divergent student performance. Each reading quiz is worth one bonus point to be added to the lecture total. The student has the right to a full explanation of any grade given in this course.

Reading quizzes are each worth 1 bonus point to be added to your exam grade at the end of the semester. Since the quiz grade is a bonus point, there are NO makeups.

Students are expected to attend all classes. A seating chart will be generated the second class period. No formal attendance record will be maintained. However, with 500 text pages assigned, lecture coverage will be selective. Also summary and supplementary material will be distributed. Most importantly, examinations will definitely reflect the instructor’s emphasis. Therefore, lecture attendance is highly recommended. Reading quizzes will only be given during the first five minutes of class time so be on time or be sorry!