Chemistry Courses

CHM101 General Chemistry

[3–3, 4 cr.]

This freshman-level course is an introductory course that include theoretical and applied basic concepts of atomic structure, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, gases, 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

CHM203 Qualitative Analysis

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This course is an introduction to experimental chemistry including stoichiometric application, properties of gases, colligative properties of solution and detailed qualitative chemical analyses of various matrices.

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 or concurrent

CHM205 Fundamentals of Chemistry

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course incorporates the principles of stoichiometry, properties of gases, chemical equilibrium, aqueous equilibrium (acids and bases, buffers, titrations), thermodynamics (energy, enthalpy, thermochemistry, spontaneity, entropy, free energy), atomic structure, chemical bonding, rates of reactions, liquids and solutions.

Prerequisite: CHM101 General Chemistry, or equivalent

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.

CHM301 Analytical Chemistry

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course introduces the fundamental principles and practices of analytical chemistry. A focus is on the development of a quantitative understanding of homogeneous and heterogeneous equilibria phenomena. Equilibria include acid-base of simple and complex systems, complex ions, solubility products, and the effect of electrolytes. In addition, the course covers fundamentals and applications of titration, electrochemistry, and chemical kinetics.  

Prerequisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM302 Instrumental Analysis

[1–4, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to a variety of analytical methods of analysis covering theoretical concepts of instrumentation as well as research and hands-on applications. Topics include emission and absorption spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electrochemistry, various mass spectrometry and chromatography techniques. 

Prerequisites: CHM301 Analytical Chemistry and CHM204 Quantitative Analysis

CHM310 Basic Organic Chemistry

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is for pre-health professionals. Material covered includes electronic structure and bonding, acid-base in organic chemistry, nomenclature, physical properties, reactions and reactivity of alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alkyl halides, alcohols, amines, ethers, epoxides, and aromatic compounds. The central role of carbonyl compounds, their reactions, 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 nomenclature, properties and reactions of aliphatic hydrocarbons, alkyl halides and alcohols with an emphasis on mechanistic and stereochemical aspects of organic reactions and their application in organic synthesis. The concept of aromaticity is introduced.

Perquisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM312 Organic Chemistry II

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course  covers in depth organic structure determination by spectroscopic methods, nomenclature, properties, reactions, and synthesis of aromatic hydrocarbons, organometallics, alcohols, thiols, ethers, sulfides, carbonyl compounds (aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and derivatives), and amines. Emphasis is placed on reaction mechanisms, stereochemistry, and the design of multi-step synthesis.

Prerequisite: CHM311 Organic Chemistry  I, or PHY311 Organic Materials 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, thin-layer and column chromatography, and polarimetry. Students are introduced to ChemDraw software and molecular modeling.

Pre- or Co-requisite: CHM311 Organic Chemistry I or PHY311 Organic Materials 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, Suzuki coupling, aldol condensation, Diels-Alder reaction and Friedel Crafts acylation. In addition, the synthesis of dyes and natural products are investigated and quantum chemical calculations completed using Gaussian software.

Pre- or Co-requisite: CHM312 Organic Chemistry II, or PHY312 Organic Materials I or  concurrently

Prerequisite: 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, physical transformations and phase diagrams of pure substances, simple mixtures, kinetic theory of gases, rate law, mechanism, Bodenstein approximation, fast reactions, photochemistry, and reaction rate theories.

Prerequisites: MTH201 Calculus III and CHM201 Chemical Principles

Note: MTH304 Differential Equations is strongly recommended.

CHM332 Physical Chemistry II

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This is a course that covers quantum theory, postulates, particle in a box, Schrödinger equation of hydrogen, harmonic oscillator and vibrational spectroscopy, rigid rotor and rotational spectroscopy, H+2 and H2, atomic and molecular orbitals, approximation methods, many electron atoms, atomic and molecular spectra, and applications in spectroscopy.

Prerequisites: CHM201 Chemical Principles and MTH201 Calculus III

Note: MTH304 Differential Equations is strongly recommended.

CHM334 Physical Chemistry Laboratory

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This is a laboratory course that covers principles and experimental techniques in thermochemistry, kinetics, quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular spectroscopy and electrochemistry.

Prerequisites: CHM301 Analytical Chemistry or concurrently and CHM330 Physical Chemistry I or concurrently

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

CHM402 Chemistry of Materials

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to the materials of emerging technologies including metals, alloys, and inter-metallics, ceramics, polymers, composites, nanomaterials and biomaterials, semiconductors, superconductors and dielectrics, 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-requisite: CHM312 Organic Chemistry  II

CHM404 Forensic Chemistry

[32–0, 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.

Prerequisite: CHM202 Analytical Chemistry or CHM301 Analytical Chemistry

CHM405 Forensic Chemistry Lab

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This lab is a direct application of the forensic principles that are covered in the course. Physical and biological evidence will be subjected to various extraction methods, spot and color tests, followed by instrumental analysis for the purposes of qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Prerequisite: CHM404 Forensic Chemistry or concurrently

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-analyzer, and NMR.

Prerequisite: CHM314 Organic Chemistry II Lab

CHM421 Inorganic Chemistry I

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course outlines the fundamental concepts in Inorganic Chemistry with emphasis on coordination compounds. Topics include the atomic theory, chemical bonding and molecular orbital theory, group theory and symmetry, acids and bases in Inorganic Chemistry.

Prerequisite: CHM201 Chemical Principles

CHM422 Inorganic Chemistry II

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is an application to modern Inorganic Chemistry. Topics include physical methods in Inorganic Chemistry, metallic elements in the periodic table, structure of ionic solids or crystals, reactions of coordination compounds, organometallics reactions, catalysis and spectroscopy.

Prerequisite: CHM421 Inorganic Chemistry I

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 and thermal analysis. The special laboratory skills of air-free manipulation of chemicals will also be introduced.

Prerequisite: CHM421 Inorganic Chemistry I

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 thermogravimetric analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Prerequisites: CHM402 Chemistry of Materials or concurrently, CHM330 Physical Chemistry I or concurrently

CHM425 Computational Chemistry

[0–4, 2 cr.]

This course is a hands-on computer laboratory course that covers the practical aspects of computational chemistry as applied in chemical structure and chemical dynamics calculations. Methods cover molecular mechanics, semi-empirical, ab-initio, molecular dynamics, and statistical mechanics. Calculations range from optimizations (ground, excited, and transition state) and conformational searching to structure-property relationships.

Prerequisite: Junior standing

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.

Prerequisites: Senior standing and ENG202 Advanced Academic English or concurrently