BPS2021 · Synthetic chemistry 1: Structure and reactivity

Overview

The ability to make or modify small molecules and to confirm their identity is fundamental to the drug discovery and development process. This unit introduces you to the theoretical principles and practical tools of chemical synthesis, including key analytical techniques (such as NMR and mass spectroscopy) used to structurally elucidate organic compounds. The unit takes a functional group approach to examine the structure of organic molecules and their potential to interact and react with other molecules, an approach that is highly relevant not only to synthetic applications, but also more generally to drug design, drug-target interactions and drug formulation.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook lists an examination for this unit.

Final assessment (40%) and in-semester assessment (60%)

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Analyse the chemical structure of pharmaceutical compounds with regard to their properties (steric, electronic, acid-base, etc) and their reactivity using a functional group approach.
2. Formulate basic reaction mechanisms using the arrow-pushing formalism.
3. Apply kinetic and thermodynamic principles to rationalise basic reaction pathways.
4. Safely and competently perform a basic chemical synthesis, including product purification and collection of analytical data to characterise the product.
5. Describe the physical basis of selected spectroscopic techniques (primarily mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance) and explain their role in the identification of drug molecules.
6. Systematically analyse, interpret, and report spectroscopic data to characterise small molecule synthesis products.
7. Clearly and accurately discuss and evaluate experimental data in both a written laboratory report format, and in a manuscript format for a journal relevant to the field of synthetic chemistry.

Workload

• Twelve 1-hour online preparation modules (discovery) • Twenty-four 1-hour lectures (online modules) • One 2 hour Introductory Applied session • Six 2-hour workshops • Six 4-hour laboratories • Two hours of scheduled assessments

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.