PREFACE In this course, we attempt to bring the basics of organic chemistry to the student needing to understand the nomenclature, chemical properties, and reactivity of carbonbased molecules. While there are far too many organic molecules in nature to discuss in any organic chemistry course, there are specific ways to clearly identify these molecules as well as certain trends in how these various molecules behave in chemical reactions. By the end of the course, you will understand how to identify and name organic molecules, their physical properties, and how they chemically interact with one another in a variety of types of chemical reactions. Chapter one in the course begins the study of organic chemistry by introducing how organic molecules are put together. There really isn’t any difference between the way the atoms in organic molecules are put together and the way other chemical molecules are put together but it is worth reviewing, even if you have studied chemistry in the past. This chapter will focus on orbital theory and the particulars of organic molecular bonding as well as the shorthand involved in writing out organic molecular structures. Finally, the chapter talks about resonance chemistry as it applies to organic molecules. Chapter two in the course covers the basics of nomenclature in identifying organic molecules. Because there are innumerable organic molecules and because they are based on just a few different types of atoms, there needs to be a way to identify what each molecule looks like by name alone. This leads to a discussion of the IUPAC nomenclature and coverage of the different functional groups in organic chemistry. You will need to understand how to name the different molecules you see in organic molecules, which is covered in this chapter. In addition, there will be a discussion of stereochemistry as it applies to organic molecules. The topic of Chapter three in the course is organic solvent chemistry. For students who have participated in regular chemistry experiments, the solvent has typically been water. In organic chemistry, the solvent may or may not be water because many aspects of organic chemistry involve nonpolar substances that do not dissolve in water. Solvents
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