Syllabus for

Chemistry 118A : Organic Chemistry for Health and Life Sciences

The University of California, Davis Campus

June 23, 2015

Instructor: Daniel J. Nurco, M.Sc. (Animal Biology), Ph.D. (Ag. and Environmental Chemistry)
Instructors Office: Chemistry Building, room 175
Instructors Email: DJNurco@UCDavis.edu
Email policy: Please include Chem118A in the subject line of your emails to Dr. Nurco and the Chemistry
118A TAs. For questions requiring lengthy responses please see Dr. Nurco or a TA in person during scheduled
office hours. Generally, course administrative questions are addressed via email while questions about course
material are not answered via email.
Lecture Meeting Location: Kleiber 3
Lecture Meeting Time: 2:10 3:50 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during UCDs Summer
Session I, 2015.
Instructors Office Hours: Wednesdays from 5:30 6:30 PM in Chemistry 175 and for 20 minutes at the end
of each Lecture in Kleiber 3. Additional Office Hours are to be announced.
Teaching
Assistants

Email addresses

Shuo Wang niuwang@ucdavis.edu

Melissa
Novy

Wan-Chih
Su

mnovy@ucdavis.edu

wcsu@ucdavis.edu

Discussion Sections, Times,

and Locations

TA Office Hours
Times and Location

A01, Tuesdays and Thursdays from

9:00 10:15 AM in Storer 1342
A03, Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:10
5:25 PM in Storer 1342
A02, Tuesdays and Thursdays from
9:00 10:15 AM in Wellman 207
A07, Tuesdays and Thursdays from
4:10 5:25 PM in Wickson 1038

Post Discussion Office

Hours will take place for
30 minutes at the end of
each Discussion Section at
the Discussion location.
Final Exam week office
hours will take place
during
scheduled
Discussion meeting times
and during post Discussion
Office hour times and they
will
be
located
in
Chemistry Annex 1480A.
Additional TA Office
Hours
are
to
be
announced. There will be
no office hours after the
final exam or on exam
days after the exam.

A06, Wednesdays and Thursdays

from 8:00 9:05 AM in Wellman 105
A04, Tuesdays and Thursdays from
9:05 10:15 AM in Wellman 105

Student Academic Success Center Office Hours and Workshops: Please visit their website
(http://success.ucdavis.edu) to find up-to-date availability and times of their resources. They will have drop-in
tutoring available on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10-12 AM in Dutton Hall, room 2258.
Regarding Office Hours: All Chemistry 118A students are welcomed and encouraged to attend the office
hours of any 118A Teaching Assistant and Dr. Nurcos.

Chemistry 118A Syllabus, Summer Session I 2012, UC Davis

Combined Lecture, Discussion, and Office Hour Schedule:
Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Thursday

8:00 - 8:15 AM
8:15 - 8:30
8:30 - 8:45
8:45 - 9:00
9:00 - 9:15
9:15- 9:30
9:30 - 9:45
9:45 -10:00
10:00 - 10:15
10:15- 10:30
10:30 -10:45
10:45 - 11:00
11:00 - 11:15
11:15 - 11:30
11:30 - 11:45
11:45 - 12:00
12:00 - 12:15 PM
12:15 - 12:30
12:30- 12:45
12:45- 1:00
1:00 - 1:15
1:15 - 1:30
1:30 - 1:45
1:45 - 2:00
2:00 - 2:15
2:15 - 2:30
2:30 - 2:45
2:45 - 3:00
3:00 - 3:15
3:15 - 3:30
3:30 - 3:45
3:45 - 4:00
4:00 - 4:15
4:15 - 4:30
4:30 - 4:45
4:45- 5:00
5:00 - 5:15
5:15 -5:30
5:30 - 5:45
5:45 - 6:00
6:00 - 6:15
6:15 - 6:30

8-9:15 AM
A06 Discussion
9-10:15 AM
A01 Discussion
A02 Discussion
A04 Discussion

9:15 - 9:45 AM
post-Disc OHs

8-9:05 AM
A06 Discussion
9-10:15 AM
A01 Discussion
A02 Discussion

10:15 - 10:45 AM
post-Disc OHs

10:15 - 10:45 AM
post-Disc OHs

12:10 - 1:25 PM

12:10 - 1:25 PM

A08 Discussion

A08 Discussion

1:25 - 1:55 PM
post-Disc OHs

1:25 - 1:55 PM
post-Disc OHs

9:05-10:15 AM
A04 Discussion

10:15 - 11 AM
post-Disc OHs

2:10 - 3:50 PM
Lecture in Kleiber 3

3:50-4:10 PM, Dr. Nurco OHs in Kleiber 3

4:10 - 5:25 PM
A03 Discussion
A07 Discussion
5:25 - 5:55 PM
post-Disc OHs

4:10 - 5:25 PM
A03 Discussion
A07 Discussion
5:30 - 6:30 PM
Dr. Nurco OHs
Kleiber 3

5:25 - 5:55 PM
post-Disc OHs

Required Course Materials: Lecture text: Peter Vollhardt & Neil Schore, "Organic Chemistry, Structure and
Function, 7th Edition" and N. Schore, "Study Guide/Solutions Manual, 7th Edition", a Chemistry 118A
Discussion Booklet (available at the UCD Bookstore for about $4.00), and Molecular Model set for Organic
Chemistry. The prentice Hall Molecular Model Set for Organic Chemistry is quite good and is available online.
The Maruzen HGS Set for Organic Chemistry is also good and is available in the UCD Bookstore and
numerous model sets are available online.
Note 1: an electronic version of the textbookan eBookis available directly from the publisher for about
1/2 the price of a new hardcopy text; go to whfreeman.com for details.
Note 2: deeply discounted bundles containing the textbook, study guide, and model set should be in stock at
the bookstore. Everything should be available individually as well.
Supplementary Materials (these are not to give you more work to do; they are to help you): Web supplements

Chemistry 118A Syllabus, Summer Session I 2012, UC Davis

3
to the textbook have animations and supplementary problems. Find these at bcs.whfreeman.com/organic7e
Course Website: Please access the course website through the UCD SmartSite system at
http://smartsite.ucdavis.edu for important materials, including grades and announcements. Regularly accessing
this website and checking your email is a required component of this course. For computing technical issues
please contact UCD IT Express at telephone number 530-754-4357.
The SmartSite Gradebook: All grades for quizzes and exams will be available for students to see on the
SmartSite Gradebook. It is the responsibility of students to verify that grades written on returned exams and
quizzes are the same as grades shown in the SmartSite Gradebook. If students encounter errors where the
gradebook numerical grade does not match the numerical grade written on an exam or quiz they need to send an
email to Dr. Nurco describing the problem. The email must have Chem 118A written in the subject line. For all
quizzes and exams except for the final exam, the deadline for reporting such transcription errors is July 26, 2015
or 24 hours after the item is returned to the student, whichever is later.
Discussion Section Quizzes: There will be quizzes during the first Discussion section meetings of the second
and fourth weeks of the session. The material that could appear on quizzes includes the cumulative Lecture,
Discussion, and Homework material covered through the previous Thursday. Each quiz will have one or more
questions directly from the homework questions listed in this syllabus.
Grading:
Quiz 1
5% (Tuesday, June 30 and Wednesday, July 1)
Midterm Exam 1
25% (Tuesday, July 7)
Quiz 2
10% (Tuesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 15)
Midterm Exam 2
25% (Tuesday, July 21)
Final Exam (cumulative)
35% (Thursday, July 30)
All quizzes and exams are based upon the cumulative material covered through the previous Thursdays lecture
and Discussion. The final exam will be weighted towards material covered subsequent to the second midterm
exam.
Early/Late Exam Policy: There will be no early or late quizzes or examinations given.
Missed Quiz/Exam Policy: The only excuse that will be accepted is a documented medical reason
accompanied by a note from an M.D. explaining that your condition physically precluded you from coming to
class and taking the exam. Any student missing a quiz or exam for any other reason will get a zero for the quiz
or exam. The course grade for a student with a valid medical reason for missing a quiz or midterm exam will be
determined by the average of their other course work. Students who miss the final exam will be given a grade of
Incomplete only if they have a valid reason for their absence (as above) and a passing grade on the average of
their completed course work. In any other cases students who miss the final exam will obtain a zero for the
exam and their course grade will be averaged appropriately.
Re-evaluation of Graded Exams: Only after you have looked at the released exam key and compared it with
your exam, if you think you deserve more points on an exam question than you were given please do the
following: Write a short note indicating the issue, staple it to a photocopy of the page in question, and give it to
Dr. Nurco by the announced deadline. You will be informed of the re-evaluation decision via email. Do not
make any marks or changes on the test that is returned to you. You may make marks in a colored pen on the
photocopy that you give to Dr. Nurco.

Chemistry 118A Syllabus, Summer Session I 2012, UC Davis

Attendance Policy: You are expected to attend all lectures and discussions and very strongly encouraged to use
office hours and review sessions.
Suggested End-of-Chapter Problems and Material Coverage Schedule*: For practice and study from the
textbook, you do not need to hand in the answers
Notes:
1. Most (if not all) mid-Chapter Exercises should be attempted for drill purposes.
2. You are strongly advised to get a study group together and meet regularly. There is one Team Problem at the
end of every Chapter designed to help you work with Chapter concepts as a group.
3. Use the Chapter Integration Problem in each Chapter to help you prepare to do the Problems.
If a topic is not discussed in lecture or in the Discussion sessions, and no end of chapter Problems are
assigned concerning it, you can assume it will NOT appear on the exams.
Chapter in Textbook
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 11

Chapter 10
Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8
Chapter 9

Chapter Title
Structure and Bonding
Structure and Reactivity
The Reactions of Alkanes
Cycloalkanes

Assigned Homework Problems

2533, 3547, 50-57
26-48, 54-58
15, 16, 19-32, 38, 46-48
2127, 29-32, 36, 41, 43, 45, 50,
54-56
Stereoisomers
TBA**
Infrared Spectroscopy: Section TBA
11-8
and
Alkene NMR: Section 11-4
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Spectroscopy
Properties and Reactions of
Haloalkanes:
Bimolecular
Nucleophilic Substitution
Further
Reactions
of
Haloalkanes:
Unimolecular
Substitution and Pathways of
Elimination
Hydroxy Functional Group:
Alcohols
Further Reactions of Alcohols
and the Chemistry of Ethers

* - the class and homework schedule may be subject modification.

** - TBA = to be announced

TBA
TBA

TBA

TBA
TBA