INSTRUCTOR: W. E. Bentz
 
 

PREREQUISITE: CH 106 or 116
 
 

COURSE PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS:

This course is designed to present an introduction to the chemistry of carbon compounds for students majoring or minoring in chemistry. Included will be a rigorous study of the structure, nomenclature, preparation, reactions and uses of organic compounds. It will be necessary to move rather quickly through the first three to five chapters in order to avoid being rushed during the later part of the course. Ask students from previous years if you don’t believe that being rushed later is undesirable. You will be expected to review some of your general chemistry work in order to keep up in the early portion of this course.

LABORATORY:

Laboratory exercises are designed to provide exposure to a variety of techniques and synthetic procedures. A separate laboratory notebook must be kept in which procedures, observations, comments and data are recorded as they are carried out/obtained. In addition, all calculations and conclusions from experiments must be included. A table of contents should be included in the front and pages should be numbered throughout. All written material should be permanent, must be legible and must be written in good English.  See the general chemistry outline for lab notebooks as a guide.  An outline of the procedure, and a reagents table, must be shown to the instructor before each synthetic experiment is begun. This will be 10 % of the grade for each lab.
 
 

HOMEWORK:

At least one homework assignment will be made each week to provide the drill necessary to master the coursework. While all homework will be worth only 75 points, failure to complete the homework will almost certainly be reflected in poor examination performance.
 
 

CLASS PARTICIPATION:

During class I will frequently ask questions of the class. You should attempt to answer these questions when called upon. Don't worry about always being right. Often as much can be learned by the class from a wrong answer as from a correct one. You should also feel free to ask your questions at any time during class. People who miss more than three classes and/or rarely ask or answer questions will not receive class participation credit. I expect that each of you will take part in class discussion at least twice per week, if not during every class. At times I may ignore some who respond more quickly in order to allow everyone to become involved. Everyone will learn more if you are trying to answer every question. In short, you don't come to class to take notes that you will try to figure out later. Let's try to understand the material as it is presented and discussed.

PROBLEM SESSIONS:

A regular problem session will be held each week in Myers 229 on Tuesdays at 5:30 pm. Attendance is entirely voluntary. During these sessions, problems will be worked that students have attmpted by have been unable to complete. In other words, you should try problems before you attend. These sessions should not be attended in lieu of studying.

ATTENDANCE AND GRADING:

Regular attendance is expected at class and laboratory. I define "regular" as being present at least 95% of the time. While attendance is NOT a factor in determining grades, this instructor is not able to ignore it in borderline cases. In addition you cannot take unscheduled quizzes or earn class participation credit if you are absent.

GRADING POLICY:

            Your grade will be evaluated from the following:

	Five 50-minute examinations	400 points
	Unscheduled quizzes	100 points
	Laboratory Attendance and Notebook	175 points
	Homework	75 points
	Class Participation	50 points
	1 Two-hour Final Exam	200 points (Monday, December 11, 8:00 a.m.)
	Total	1000 points

           

Grading Scale
	A	90-100 %		B-	70-74 %		D+	54-56 %
	A-	85-89 %		C+	65-69 %		D	50-53 %
	B+	80-84 %		C	60-64 %		F	0-49 %
	B	75-79 %		C-	57-59 %

EXAMS: Tentative Exam Dates:
           September 13(W), October 4(W), October 25(W), November 15(W), December 6(Wednesday)

Exams will include questions related to laboratory work as well as material discussed in class and in the textbook. In this course you will not be tested on only those problems which you have already solved. You will also be expected to apply one or more principles which you have learned to problems which you have never seen before. The purpose of education, after all, is to prepare us to face new situations. On my exams, about 60% of the credit (enough to earn a C) will be assigned to questions similar to examples presented in class or the text and/or encountered in the homework. The remaining 40% of the credit will require application of the principles you have learned to unfamiliar questions.

UNSCHEDULED QUIZZES: A five (5) minute quiz may occur on any day during the semester. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped when calculating the semester quiz average.

OFFICE HOURS:

During the following times, I will be available in my office, MH 214 for office hours. Please sign up outside that office for a time that is convenient. . Please do not sign up for more than two consecutive appointments.
 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
11:20 am-12:20 pm 3:20-5:20 p.m.	9:20-10:10 am	9:20-10:10 am 1:20-2:10 pm	10:20-11:20 am 2:20-3:20 pm	9:20-10:10 am 2:20-3:10 pm

If you wish to see me at any other time when I am not in class, please make an appointment personally.

INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE:

Students who feel they need individual assistance with the material and assignments for this course should make an appointment with me or come during my scheduled office hours See above).  To get the most effective help, students should seek assistance as soon as they experience confusion or difficulty with the coursework.  (Waiting until you have received low grades on exams and other assignments is not recommended!)

For additional assistance with the course, students should attend the GROUP TUTORING sessions that will be scheduled weekly.  I will give you the time of the session by the end of the first week of class.  The tutor(s) have been carefully selected for this position.

If group tutoring sessions are insufficient to meet your needs, you can request an INDIVIDUAL TUTOR by contacting Beth Niles, the Tutoring Coordinator in Crandall Hall (located on Main Street across from the Bandstand, between the Fire Department and the playground;  871-2148).  Mrs. Niles will ask me to recommend potential tutors based upon strong performance in the course and then she will recruit those students to serve as a tutor.  This may take some time!  Avoid falling farther behind in the course material by seeking individual assistance from me while waiting for private tutoring to be arranged.

AND REMEMBER:  Tutors are a valuable resource, but I am the expert in the field.  Do not hesitate to ask for my assistance at any time, even if you are receiving tutoring.

ANSWER KEYS:

On-Line MATERIALS:  Blackboard

This course has an active Blackboard system account.  To access this from any browser, use http://blackboard.alfred.edu or go to the my.alfred.edu page and select Blackboard in the left column.  Your login name will be your "Outlook account" name and your password is the same as your e-mail account.  After login, select "Personal Information" to update this information.  Be sure to change your preferred e-mail account, if it is not Outlook. Next, select CH 315 under "COURSES".
The following course materials are available for the course under the active parts of Blackboard at present.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  This will be my primary method of getting special messages to you.  I recommend that you check it at least once per week.

COURSE INFOMATION:  The complete course syllabus is available.

FACULTY INFORMATION:  My telephone number and office location are here.  There are also direct links to my
 e-mail and office hours.

COURSE DOCUMENTS:  There is a link to electronic reserves here.

ASSIGNMENTS:  All homework assignments will be posted here.

COMMUNICATIONS:  A class roster is here and an easy method to e-mail other members of the class.  Be sure that you have entered your preferred e-mail address after login.  (Note:  "All users" is everyone in this class only.)

EXTERNAL LINKS:  Occasionally I will put links here for items of interest for this course.  I'll use the announcement page to alert you to these links.

TOOLS:  A calendar for the course (exams and scheduled quizzes) is all that is activated right now.
 
 

TO ACCESS COURSE MATERIALS THROUGH MY WEB PAGE:
    You must have "Adobe Acrobat Reader" on your computer to read these materials.
        1.    Go to my web-page in your Web Browser at "http://people.alfred.edu/~fbentz/"
     2.   On my web-page, scroll down and select "Courses Taught" near the lower left side.
        3.    Under CHEM 315 select "Homework Keys", "Quiz Keys", "Current Exam Keys" , or "Former Exams"
        4.    Read the rules, then click "accept", if you do agree to abide by the rules.
        5.    Choose what you wish to look at; e.g.,
                  if you have selected homework keys, choose the due date you wish to view;
                  if you have selected quiz keys, choose the quiz you wish to view by date given;
                  if you have selected current exam keys, choose the exam you wish to view by date taken.
                  if you have selected former exams, choose the exam you wish to view by number.
        6.    If nothing appears, try shrinking the Netscape window, (upper right corner).
        7.    When the material appears on the screen, you may view it or print it.
        8.    Please do not hesitate to ask for help at either one of the AU Libraries
                (Scholes - 607-871-2492 or Herrick - 607-871-2184)
 

TO ACCESS COURSE MATERIALS THROUGH THE e-Res WEB PAGE:
    You must have "Adobe Acrobat Reader" on your computer to read these materials.
        1.  Go to Electronic Reserve web-page in your Web Browser at http://eres.alfred.eduor go

to my.alfred.edu and choose E-res under Academics in the left column.

2.    Select "Electronic Reserves and Reserves Pages"
        3.    Choose "Course Reserves Pages by Instructor", find BENTZ under "Please select an instructor",
             then click "View"
        4.    Select  "CHEM 315 " .
        5.    Read the rules, then click "accept", if you do agree to abide by the rules.
        6.    Choose which item you wish to view; most homework and quizzes are listed by date.
        7.    If nothing appears, try shrinking the Netscape window, (upper right corner).
        8.    When the material appears on the screen, you may view it or print it.
        9.    Please do not hesitate to ask for help at either one of the AU Libraries
                (Scholes - 607-871-2492 or Herrick - 607-871-2184)

TEXTS:

McMurray, "Organic Chemistry," 5th ed., Brooks/Cole, 2004, ISBN 0-534-38999-6
Williamson, "Macroscale and Microscale Organic Experiments,"4th ed., Houghton Mifflin,
           2003,ISBN 0-618-19702-8
Optional: West, "Pushing Electrons", 3rd. ed., Saunders, 1998, ISBN 0-03-020693-6

CELL PHONES:

The use of cellular telephones or pagers in the classroom and laboratory is rude and inconsiderate of the other people in that class. Turn them off before you enter the laboratory or my classroom. My policy is the following: If it goes off or rings in my class, IT IS MINE, forever.
 
 

I AM NOT THE ENEMY

Nothing would give me a greater pleasure than to see each of you earn an A. This course is not graded on a curve. No one has to get a low grade. This course is not impossible. Last year only one person withdrew each semester and only one person failed all year. Take advantage of all of the opportunities to get assistance as soon as it is needed. Come to class, office hours and group tutoring. Everyone wants to help you. But you must take the initiative to seek that help.

McMurray, "Organic Chemistry," 5th ed., Brooks/Cole, 2000, ISBN 0-534-38999-6
 

Tentative Lecture Outline
McMurray Chapter		Class Periods
1	Structure and Bonding	2
2	Polar Bonds and Their Consequences	2
3	Alkanes and Cycloalkanes	2
4	Stereochemistry of Alkanes and Cycloalkanes	3
5	An Overview of Organic Reactions	3
6	Alkenes: Structure and Reactivity	3
7	Alkenes: Reaction and Synthesis	3
8	Alkynes	2
9	Stereochemistry	3
10	Alkyl Halides	3
11	Nucleophilic Substitution and Eliminations Reaction	3
14	Conjugated Dienes	3
15	Benzene and Aromaticity	3
16	Chemistry of Benzene	3

 
 
 

Williamson, "Macroscale and Microscale Organic Experiments,"4th ed., Houghton Mifflin,
           2003,ISBN 0-618-19702-8