Organic Chemistry III
Chem 420, 3 credits
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Fall 2009, 12:00-12:50, MWF
Professor David A. Boyles, Room 319
Office Hours I have office hours as do all faculty and am available for individual assistance firstly during scheduled office hours with occasional exceptions, and secondly by appointment. An EXCELLENT way to take care of things quickly is to see me while I am in the classroom IMMEDIATELY AFTER class, whether it be for questions or for other matters you wish to bring to my attention. I do not discuss anything by email. Please do not hesitate to see me during office hours.
If you don't use office hour time set for you, you will lose the time set for you. have little respect for those who leave their own best interest to matters of chance and their own convenience. (Whomever thinks chance is his friend is likely gambling with his life.) Maximize your advantage by thinking ahead and planning your time. Drop-of-the-hat, spur-of-the-moment requests and reliance on chance encounters for your education is not consistent with an approach to serious matters such as your education requires.
1. When to see me:
Office hours without appointment; Office hours are MWF 3:00 to 3:50. Best time to see me is immediately after class while I am yet in class if you have quick questions--don't put them off--there will be new material tomorrow. I handle quick questions quickly and they usually do not need office time.
By appointment made while I am yet in class after class but only if you cannot follow above directions.
For quick questions it is appreciated if you see me immediately after class while I am yet in the classroom.
2. When not to see me:
Immediately before class.
When I am clearly in a hurry, or when I am clearly in serious conversation with someone else--wait your turn. It is rude to those we are with at the time to turn attention away from them.
When I am with chemicals or in the laboratory.
3. When you must see me in my office and not in public:
When there is private business to discuss including grades, health, unusual circumstances, etc.
This is not a distance class. Requests are to be registered in person. I do not have a personal secretary and don't consider it cool to play cell-telephone or email tag. Learn to both plan ahead and register your requests in person. I do not return phone calls as a rule and do not honor impersonal hiding behind email since we meet three times weekly. I have no respect for malingerers, loiterers, general purposelessness, and woe-is-me-ers. I fully understand you will be challenged by this class and look forward to you rising to meet the challenge. Absences: See below; other than school sponsored activities everyone will have two quizzes thrown out; any other quizzes missed will be awarded zero points, including minor illnesses.
Course Description
CHEM 420/520 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY III (3-0) 3 credits. Prerequisite: CHEM 328. Advanced considerations of organic chemistry. Case studies in the synthesis of complex organic molecules are drawn from historical and recent organic chemical literature, which exemplify particular conformation, synthetic, and technical challenges to the organic student. Students enrolled in CHEM 520 will be held to a higher standard than those enrolled in CHEM 420
Prerequisite Chem 326 and Chem 328.
Couse Requirements
Textbook:
Your Organic I and Organic II book is an indispensable reference and is required for assignments.
The above will be used for reference, reading, and problem assignments. Additional work outside the text will be required. Students in a senior level course are expected to key off each lecture and read supporting material in the text on their own, finding such material by indexical terms.
Attendance and Makeup:
1. Attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to attend all regularly scheduled lecture and exam periods. Quizzes and/or examinations must be taken when given. No makeup quizzes or examinations will be given outside of school policy unless I decide otherwise (below). I abide by University Policy to the letter in the case of school-sponsored absences. Students must recognize that vital aspects of the university experience are not able to be fully realized when class attendance is not taken seriously and standards are compromised.
2. It is your responsibility to get the notes and assignments, and any schedule or other changes from another student if a class is missed.
4. There are no makeup examinations other than for school sponsored activities as per the SDSM&T catalog. Plan on taking all quizzes and examinations as scheduled. Students who have valid reasons within university policy for excused absences must see me immediately after class in advance of their absence. If you have an excused absence in accordance with university policy you must take any quizzes you missed before they are passed back to the class. This time must be cleared IN ADVANCE with me. Normally a 10 minute quiz can be taken immediately before the next class in the event of a school-sponsored activity absence.
In cases of approved emergency absences only, cleared with a formal written excuse which is accepted by the instructor I may consider a makeup.
More often than not, students who have been absent penalize themselves in having put themselves in a position to both catch up on missed work (including lectures, quizzes, and exams) in addition to having to do current work when they return from an absence. There is always a price to pay, so think twice before you pay twice as much.
5. For obvious reasons, I will not tell you in advance whether or not a "pop quiz" will be given on the day that you may miss.
Ethics:
I do not discuss with individuals that which is in the interest of everyone. Insider information and special consideration is not an option. If you have a question the answer to which affects the class, ask in class.
I don't take questions immediately before a quiz or exam. Canned answers that are simply fed back to me from you is not in the interest of education and clearly defeats advance-planning expected on your part as well as well as your long-term commitment to the material.
Absolutely no questions will be taken by me during quizzes or exams. Reasons: (1) by the time a quiz or exam arrives it is my turn to assess what you do or don't know, what meaning you have made of the material, and the time for questions has long passed, (2) all students are in the same boat with the same information before them and no one gets hints others don't, (3) it is disruptive during quizzes and exams, and (4) no one question is any more important than anyone else's and there is not time to answer everyone's question during a quiz anyway. Do your best; everyone else is.
It is not up to your professor or anyone else to do for you what you and only you can and must do for yourself to your own benefit.
"Academic integrity" means you will abstain from any reason which might cast yourself in the light of suspicion. Keep your eyes ON YOUR PAPER during quizzes and examinations or suspicion automatically arises. No caps are allowed during quizzes or exams. Do NOT get out of your seat during a quiz or exam without permission. I reserve the right to seat and reseat you and may do so without explanation. Proctors are under no obligation to converse in the course of their duties nor am I. Plagiarism violations include copying someone else's homework and will be prosecuted to the full limits of Policy. Read SDBOR Policy 3:4 "Student Conduct Code."
Notes:
BOR policy indicates two hours study required as a minimum for each class hour. Your mileage may vary and YOU must decide.
Read exam questions carefully and answer what is asked. In other words, follow directions or credit cannot be awarded. Some questions are purposely written to see if you can interpret them, and others are purposely written to require a highly specific answer. In all cases you must interpret what you read and give the single best answer to the question. Multiple answers to a question requiring but one answer will not be awarded no credit.
This course is not about you, and it's not about me--it's about ORGANIC CHEMISTRY.
"For in truth great love springs from great knowledge of the beloved object, and if you know it but little you will be able to love it only a little or not at all." --Leonardo daVinci
Outcomes: The student who has successfully completed this course will be able to perform the following.
1. Write mechanistically correct pathways for reaction outcomes and predict reaction outcomes using mechanistically correct depictions.
2. Follow multistep reaction sequences to product.
3. Design synthetic sequences for target molecules via retrosynthetic disconnections.
4. Give verbal as well as structural descriptions of advanced organic reactions and syntheses.
Attendance Policy:
The student is expected to attend all regularly scheduled lecture and exam periods. Students should recognize that vital aspects of the university experience are not able to be fully realized when class attendance is irregular. Unexcused absences may result in a grade penalty. All assignments and notes are the responsibility of the student no matter what the nature of the absence.
If you want the grade you must be willing to do the intellectual work it takes to earn it. Senior standing and rank is not an entitlement.
Grading
Your grade is determined only by points earned on exams, quizzes, and other assignments given during the semester. There is no opportunity other than what is explicitly stated in this syllabus to earn points, that is, neither special assignments nor additional work beyond that given other students will be given.
There will be 2 or 3 examinations in addition to quizzes. In addition a comprehensive final for the semester will be given as scheduled during finals' week.
Midterm and final grades will be calculated according to the following scale. I anticipate no curve: you cannot hurt your own grade by assisting people within your groups. I calculate alphabetical grades twice ONLY: at midterm, and after the final exam. Keep track of your own scores in light of possible points at any time throughout the semester as I will not balance your checkbook for you.
If you have questions concerning a grade I expect as a minimum that you will have calculated your precise point score and assigned yourself a grade according to the below percentage scale IN ADVANCE of speaking with me.
Grades will be calculated according to the following scale:
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 55-69
Anyone receiving below 50% of the total points will fail the course.
Course Outline
I. Retrosynthetic Analysis, Synthons, Synthetic Equivalents
II. Reagents in Organic Synthesis
III. Selected Organic Syntheses from the Literature
Americans with Disabilities Act
Students who may require assistance in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act must contact the instructor and the campus ADA coordinator, Ms. Jolie McCoy, at 394-1924, at the earliest opportunity.
Freedom in Learning
Under Board of Regents and University policy student academic performance will be evaluated solely on an academic basis, not on opinions or conduct in matters unrelated to academic standards. Students are free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment concerning what are matters of opinion, and they are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Students who believe that an academic evaluation reflects prejudiced or capricious consideration of student opinion or conduct which is unrelated to academic standards set forth for the class may contact the dean of the college which offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.
Any alleged violations must be substantiated and documented and first discussed with the faculty member by the student. Whether malicious or not, unsubstantiated, arbitrary, capricious, or false accusations by students will be prosecuted to the fullest limits allowed by law.
Electronic Devices Policy
Please turn off cell phones before class begins. No use of electronic or computer media is allowed during class time.
This syllabus is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in class.
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest" (Proverbs vi 6-8)
South Dakota Board of Regents Policy Defining Cheating
Cheating, which is defined as, but not limited to, the following:
i. use or giving of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations;
ii. use of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; or
iii. acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the institutional faculty or staff.