Instructor: Professor Ray Fort; 252 Aubert Hall. Phone: 581-1180; e-mail: rcfort@maine.edu. Web: http://chemistry.umeche.maine.edu/fort.html. Office hours: whenever I'm in the office..

Text: Advanced Organic Chemistry, Part A: Structure and Mechanisms, 5^th edition, by F. A. Carey and R. J. Sundberg, Springer, New York and Heidelberg, 2007. We will use it largely as a reference and a source of problems, but every organic chemist should own this volume.

Web: a Web page for this course is maintained at: http://chemistry.umeche.maine.edu/CHY556.html.

Object of the Course: To understand how molecules are assembled, and the validity of the various models we use to represent them; to be able to make the connection between electronic structure and reactivity of organic molecules; and to become adept at writing mechanisms for some of the basic classes of organic reactions. In short, we will attempt to learn a way of thinking about problems of structure and reactivity that is valuable in all fields of chemistry.

Coverage: We shall attempt to work through the topics shown on the web page, including the general approach to writing mechanisms. Students who are not already familiar with the basics of reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, and linear free energy relationships should plan to work through Chapter 3 of the text on their own. Students also should own a good undergraduate organic text for use in reviewing basics; I recommend those by Jones (especially), or Fox and Whitsell. The materials I use in teaching sophomore organic also may prove helpful for review: look at http://chemistry.umeche.maine.edu/organic.html.

Conduct of the Course: I will not lecture extensively; most class periods will be devoted to working problems. Questions are encouraged; if you don't have a lot of them, you're doing something wrong. This will require extensive out-of-class preparation for each class meeting. You must invest time in reading, working problems, and discussion with me and other class members of anything you do not understand. I suggest that a minimum of 15 hours a week in addition to classroom time will be needed. You will be expected to participate actively in classroom discussion, including presentation of work at the whiteboard. Students are not expected always to be right, but should be able to present a logical justification of their wrongness.

Students also are expected to read the current literature regularly. This includes Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Organic Chemistry, and any more specialized journals appropriate to their research. Classroom participation will include students calling class attention to papers relevant to whatever we are discussing at the time.

Examinations and Grades. Four assignments will be set, to be handed in to me by announced dates. If I am not satisfied with your work, I will give it back and ask that it be improved. Having a "right" answer is not as important demonstrating your thinking. Likewise, a thoughtful written answer is more important than a "right" answer. You will be expected to present some of your answers to the class, and defend them. If you complete all assignments satisfactorily, and participate actively in our discussions of problems, you will receive an A. If you do not, your grade will drop one letter for each incomplete assignment..

Assignments will be posted on the Web site, and will include problems from the text and from other sources.