Chemistry Courses

CHM101 General Chemistry

[3–3, 4 cr.]

This freshman-level course is an introduction to atomic structure, chemical bonding, gases, stoichiometry, aqueous solution, chemical kinetics, and chemical equilibrium.

CHM200 Essentials of Chemistry

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This is a one semester course for health science students that introduces basic concepts of general, organic and biochemistry, and basic nuclear chemistry. The course includes basic: stoichiometric chemical calculations, bonding concepts, solution chemistry, acid-base and redox reactions, basic nuclear reactions, organic compounds properties, structure and reactivity of hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, carbonyls, carboxylic acids, amines, carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids enzymes and biochemical energy.

CHM201 Chemistry Principles

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course covers the principles and theories of atomic structure, chemical bonding, stoichiometry, mass spectrometry, properties of gases, basic thermodynamics, kinetic theory, solids and liquids, solutions, ionic and chemical equilibrium.

Prerequisite: CHM101 General Chemistry or equivalent

CHM202 Analytical Chemistry

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to the principles and methods of quantitative analysis of acid-base titration and complexometric methods of analysis. Precipitation methods, potentiometric methods, solvent extraction, chromatography and polarography, spectroscopic analytical methods, and atomic elemental analysis are covered.

Prerequisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM203 Qualitative Analysis

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This course is an introduction to experimental chemistry, emphasizing properties of gases, colligative properties and qualitative chemical analysis.

CHM204 Quantitative Analysis

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This course is an introduction to experimental chemistry that involves gravimetric, volumetric, and spectrophotometric methods, and techniques used in quantitative chemical analysis.

Pre- or Co-requisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM209 Essentials of Chemistry for Computer Science

[3–0, 3 cr.]

The course includes basic: stoichiometric chemical calculations, bonding concepts, solution chemistry, acid-base and redox reactions, organic compounds properties, structure and reactivity of hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, carbonyls, carboxylic acids, amines, carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids enzymes and biochemical energy. The course includes a short laboratory component that complements the theoretical course material.

CHM310 Basic Organic Chemistry I

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is for pre-health professionals. Material covered includes electronic structure, and bonding, acid-base in organic chemistry, organic compounds and their nomenclature, physical properties, structures, reactions and reactivity of alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alkyl halides, alcohols, amines, ethers, and epoxides. Aromatic systems and their reactions: substitutions (nucleophilic, electrophilic) and eliminations; central role of carbonyl compounds and their reactions, structure determination and the chemistry of biomolecules are also covered.

Prerequisite: CHM200 Essentials of Chemistry or CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM311 Organic Chemistry I

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of organic chemistry with an emphasis on the relation between structure and properties. It also includes synthesis, properties and reactions of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, alkyl halides and alcohols with an emphasis on mechanistic and stereochemical aspects of organic reactions.

Perquisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM312 Organic Chemistry II

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course  covers in depth organic structure determination by spectroscopic methods, properties, reactions, and synthesis of alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and derivatives, amines, phenols, and carbohydrates. Emphasis is placed on  reaction mechanisms and stereochemistry, as well as the design of multi-step synthesis.

Prerequisite: CHM311 Organic Chemistry  I

CHM313 Organic Chemistry I Lab

[0–3, 1 cr.]

This laboratory course is designed to provide students with the basic skills for conducting organic reactions. The following techniques are learned: melting point, boiling  point, simple, fractional and steam distillation, gravity and vacuum filtration, drying solids and liquids, extraction, evaporation, reflux, recrystallization, gas chromatography, column chromatography, thin layer chromatography and optical  rotation.

Pre- or Co-requisite: CHM311 Organic Chemistry I

CHM314 Organic Chemistry II Lab

[0–3, 1 cr.]

This course is an advanced organic chemistry lab course that utilizes the techniques learned in CHM313, in order to synthesize and study the properties and reactivities of functional groups. Experiments conducted include nitration of aromatic compounds, aldol condensation, Diels-Alder reaction and Friedel Crafts acylation. In addition, the synthesis of dyes and natural products are investigated in this laboratory.

Prerequisites: CHM312 Organic Chemistry II or concurrently, CHM313 Organic Chemistry I Lab

CHM330 Physical Chemistry I

[4–0, 4 cr.]

This course covers the basic principles of chemical thermodynamics and chemical dynamics including heat, work and energy, the three laws of thermodynamics and their application to chemical systems and thermodynamic solutions, kinetic theory of gases, rate law, mechanism, Bodenstein approximation, fast reactions, photochemistry, and reaction rate theories.

Prerequisites: MTH201 Calculus III and CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM332 Physical Chemistry II

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This is a course that covers quantum theory, postulates, Schrödinger equation of hydrogen, H+2 and H2, atomic and molecular orbitals, Hückel approximation, and atomic and molecular spectra.

Prerequisites: CHM201 Chemical Principles and MTH201 Calculus III

CHM334 Physical Chemistry Laboratory

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This is a laboratory course that covers principles and experimental techniques in thermochemistry, kinetics, and electrochemistry.

Prerequisite: CHM202 Analytical Chemistry

CHM340 Environmental Chemistry

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is a study of natural and non-natural chemical substances in the environment and their chemical transformations. It involves chemistry of energy resources, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and, lithosphere (natural and in polluted environment). Principles of chemical reactions, chemical equilibrium and reaction kinetics are applied in this course. Other covered topics are waste treatment and chemical processes. Parallel with these is learning the methods of environmental chemical analysis.

Prerequisite: Junior standing

CHM401 Instrumental Analysis

[1–4, 3 cr.]

This course  is an introduction to modern-physical-chemical methods of analysis, with theoretical concepts of instrumentation and applications, including emission and absorption spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and chromatography.

Prerequisites: CHM 202 Analytical Chemistry and CHM204 Quantitative Analysis

CHM402 Chemistry of Materials

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to the materials of emerging technologies as explored in the chemistry of the solid-state, conducting, semiconducting, inorganic and organic materials, nanomaterials, as well as the design, preparation, processing and array of characterization methods for material performance.

Prerequisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM403 Polymer Science

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to polymer science involving classification of polymers, preparative methods of polymerization, characterization, mechanical properties, fabrication techniques, thermodynamics and kinetics of polymers, commercial importance and applications.

Pre- or Co-requisite: CHM312 Organic Chemistry  II

CHM404 Forensic Chemistry

[2–3, 3 cr.]

This course is a general overview of the fundamental principles, methods, and instrumentation involved in the forensic analysis of physical evidence such as hair, fiber, bodily fluids, glass, paint, soil, fingerprints, and documents. The laboratory applies the learned methodologies.

Prerequisites: CHM202 Analytical Chemistry

CHM405 Statistical Mechanics

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course involves probability laws and distribution, statistical mechanics, postulates, fundamental equations, statistical mechanics calculations, Bose-Einstein statistics, transition state theory, as well as isotope effect from a statistical perspective.

Prerequisite: CHM330 Physical Chemistry I

CHM412 Synthesis and Identification of Organic Compounds

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This course is an experimental chemistry course that explores synthetic transformations, separation and identification of organic compounds by wet chemical techniques, spectroscopic tools, element-alanalyzer and NMR.

Prerequisite: CHM314 Organic Chemistry II Lab

CHM420 Inorganic Chemistry

[4–0, 4 cr.]

This course is a study of hydrogen-like orbitals, multi-electron atoms, ionic bonding and crystals, symmetry point groups, symmetry-adapted orbitals, Berry pseudo-rotation, fluxional molecules, acids and bases, chemistry of the main group elements, coordination compounds and organometallic compounds.

Prerequisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM423 Synthesis and Identification of Inorganic Compounds

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This course is an experimental chemistry course that explores a wide variety of synthetic methodologies and characterization techniques of inorganic compounds such as main group, transition metals and organometallics. Several characterization techniques are used to analyze the synthesized products such as conventional spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility, thermal analysis and XRD. The special laboratory skills of air-free chemical manipulation will also be introduced.

Pre- or Co-requisite: CHM420 Inorganic Chemistry

CHM424 Synthesis and Characterization of Nanomaterials

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This course is an experimental course that explores a wide variety of synthetic and characterization techniques for nanomaterials using advanced instrumental techniques such as AA, SEM and XRD.

Prerequisites or Co-requisite: CHM402 Chemistry of Materials

CHM425 Computational Chemistry

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This is a laboratory course that introduces students to computer methods and software used in computational chemistry. Emphasis is on quantum computer simulation methods including molecular orbital methods and density functional theory, statistical calculations, molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo, and Newton-Raphson techniques in solving thermodynamic equations.

Prerequisites: CHM330 Physical Chemistry I and CHM332 Physical Chemistry  II

CHM499 Senior Study

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is designed to teach research methods. It includes work on a short, novel research topic, and the presentation of the findings in a research paper.

Co-requisite: ENG202 Advanced Academic English

Prerequisite: Senior standing