Chemistry 123: Physical and Organic Chemistry

TEXTBOOK: General Chemistry, UBC Chemistry 121/123, Volumes A and B, Custom Edition for University of British Columbia.

PHASE EQUILIBRIA AND PHASE DIAGRAMS

(4 LECTURES, Problem set 1)

• Phase equilibria, phase diagrams, general concepts of one-component systems including H₂O and CO₂.

EQUILIBRIUM AND CHEMICAL THERMODYNAMICS

(8 LECTURES, Problem set 2)

• The equilibrium constant for physical and chemical changes, K in terms of activity.
• Thermochemistry and the first law of thermodynamics (energy, work); Hess’s law
• Entropy and the 2nd and 3rd laws of Thermodynamics (DS,DS0, S0) and spontaneous processes.
• Free energy (DG, DG0), K in terms of DG0 and the temperature dependence of K. Spontaneous Processes: DG = DG0 + RTlnQ. Electrochemistry, and the Nernst equation.

CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

(5 LECTURES, Problem set 3)

• Weak acids and bases and their salts (review). Breakdown of usual approximations in these calculations, buffer solutions and buffer action, how to make a buffer solution. Polyprotic acids, mixtures of weak acids and bases, biological applications.

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

(18 LECTURES, Problem sets 4 and 5)

• Hydrocarbons, alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics. Nomenclature, structure, isomers,
• Chemical and physical properties of hydrocarbons,
• Conformational Analysis
• Functional groups: alcohols, alkyl halides, amines, amine salts, carboxylic acids, carboxylate salts, esters and amides. Nomenclature of functionalized hydrocarbons.
• Optical isomerism. Enantiomers and diastereomers. Cahn, Prelog and Ingold nomenclature for geometrical and optical isomers.
• Kinetics and mechanism of substitution reactions of alkyl halides, S_N1 and S_N2.
• Special Topics: Condensation polymers: nylon and Dacron.