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Fall 2018
Chemistry X36A – 037 (Organic Chemistry I Lecture)
3 semester units in 60 hours
BASIC COURSE INFORMATION
Course Meeting Dates/Times: Mondays 6-10 PM, August 20 – December 10
No meeting: September 3, or November 12
Course Location: Room 207, Golden Bear Center
Instructor: Marcus Strawn, Ph.D.
E-mail: marcusstrawn@berkeley.edu
Instructor Availability: Available by email (checked frequently and best point of contact), and
by appointment
Course Website Address: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Prerequisites:
• Completion of General Chemistry, with a C grade or better. (If it has been several years
since you completed this course, prepare to review some topics.)
Overview of Course:
This course introduces structure, nomenclature, bonding, properties, and reactions of carbon
compounds: saturated hydrocarbons, monofunctional, and polyfunctional compounds, with
emphasis on structures and mechanisms. The organic chemistry of alkanes, acids and bases,
alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, ethers, sulfides, and epoxides are discussed. This course is aimed
at science majors, pre-medical, pre-health, and returning students and professionals interested
in chemistry.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be aware of approximately half of the principal
organic chemistry functional groups, and will be familiar with their most common modes of
reactivity. Particular emphasis will be placed upon mechanism in this course, and upon its
completion, students will be able to predict outcomes of organic reactions mechanistically.
Students will be able to design organic syntheses of simple natural products, as well as
understand several of the various biochemical transformations present in metabolism.
Methods of Instruction:
• Lectures
• Required reading
• Discussion
• Problems
• Mid-term exams
• Final exam
COURSE MATERIALS
Primary or Required Textbooks/Readings (list all):
Textbook Title: Organic Chemistry
ISBN: 978-0-8400-5498-2
Publisher: Brooks/Cole
Authors: Brown, Foote, Iverson, and Anslyn
Edition: 6th or 7th (North American)
Other optional materials:
Molecular structure model kit. I used, once upon a time, the “HGS Molecular Structure Model, C
Set for Organic Chemistry” distributed by W.H. Freeman and Company, ISBN: 0-7167-1972-X,
