Instructor: Professor Ray Fort, 252 Aubert Hall. Office hours: 1-2 PM Tuesdays, and 10-11 AM Thursdays. Students also are welcome any time I am in the office. Please knock: I will respond with something like "Yo!", which means "Come in." If another student is already with me, please do her or him the courtesy of waiting your turn. I respond to email messages: rcfort@maine.edu.

Text: Organic Chemistry, 2nd edition; Janice G. Smith, published by McGraw-Hill, 2008.. The text is packaged with the Study guide and Solutions Manual that contains answers to end-of-chapter problems. A kit of molecular models also is included in the package. Overall, the package represents about a $40 saving over the prince of the items purchased individually..

Electronic Resources: The course web page is at http://chemistry.umeche.maine.edu/CHY251.html. It contains problem assignments, study aids, old examinations (with answers), graphics, and other useful materials. Note that this is a web page, not a First Class folder. It is accessible from anywhere in the world.

Coverage: We will discuss Chapter 1 - 5, 13, 6 - 8, 14, 9 and 10 in that order. This sequence provides all the basics of the structure of organic molecules, some simple reaction chemistry, and the experimental methodologies for determining structure. I talk in class about the things I think are most important or most difficult to understand. This does not mean that you can ignore what I do not discuss, or that everyting I talk about will be found in the text.

You should read and outline each chapter before we cover it in class. Note in your outline anything you have difficulty understanding. If my lectures do not then take care of what you did not understand in the book, you should ask questions. Lots of them! Do not fall behind! If you do not keep up with the class, you will surely fail. Plan on AT LEAST three hours of study time per week for EACH HOUR you spend in class. Trying to prepare for an examination by studying the night before is a recipe for disaster.

Problems: Organic chemistry is problem solving, and my examinations reflect this. Work as nearly all of the problems in the text as possible. As we begin each new topic, I will provide a list of problems representative of what I will expect you to be able to do on examinations. Do these first, and then move on to the others. These assignments are not collected or graded. I encourage you to come to my office with your difficulties in problem solving and any other specific questions.

Attendance: I do not take attendance. I do, however, tend to be aware of who is coming to class regularly. I think it highly unlikely that anyone other than an exceptional student can achieve a passing grade by missing class more than once or twice. Since I do not require attendance, I expect that when you are in class you will conduct yourself in an adult manner, paying attention to what is going on, and refraining from talking, eating, reading other materials, or any other disruptive behavior.

If you must arrive late, enter the classroom through the fourth-floor door at the far back of the room. Once a class session has begun, you may not leave the classroom for any reason without prior permission from me. The behaviors described in the preceding two sentences are rude and distracting, not merely to me, but more importantly, to your classmates who do want to benefit from the classroom experience. I have the authority to drop disruptive persons from the class, and I will exercise it if forced to do so.

Cell phones, iPods, and laptop computers are strictly forbidden. If your cell phone rings during class, or I observe you talking on the phone, you and the phone go into exile, permanently. You may tape record my lectures if you ask permission, and if you are in the classroom with the tape recorder!

Recitation: A no-credit one-hour recitation is associated with this class. It is scheduled for noon on Wednesdays. I strongly urge that you attend. This is an extra opportunity to ask questions - either about lectures or about assigned problems. I also will discuss some lecture topics in more detail.

Examinations: Three prelims and a final exam will be given. The prelims will be conducted in 130 Little Hall beginning at 6:30 PM on the following dates.

No alternative exam times are available and no "make-up" exams will be given. If you miss an exam, you may take a final exam containing the topics missed in addition to the other material, and weighted at 24+28=42% of your grade. Otherwise you will receive a zero. No "extra credit" is offered.

Grades: The course grade will be the weighted average of the examination grades, subject to the following scale:

I reserve the right to deviate slightly upward from this scale in response to individual circumstances, but I do not EVER use a grading curve..