Organic chemistry is the discipline that studies the properties and reactions of organic, carbon-based compounds. The student will begin by studying a unit on ylides, benzyne, and free radicals. Many free radicals affect life processes. For example, oxygen-derived radicals may be overproduced in cells, such as white blood cells that try to defend against infection in a living organism. Afterward the student will move into a comprehensive examination of stereochemistry, as well as the kinetics of substitution and elimination reactions. The course wraps up with a survey of various hetereocyclic structures, including their MO theory, aromaticity, and reactivity. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Describe free radicals in terms of stability, kinetics, and bond dissociation energies; Describe the stereochemistry and orbitals involved in photochemical reactions; Describe enantiomers, diastereomers, pro-S and pro-R hydrogens, and Re/Si faces of carbonyls; Perform conformational analysis of alkanes and cyclohexanes; Describe reaction mechanisms in terms of variousparameters (i.e.,kinetics, Curtin-Hammet principle, Hammond postulate,etc.); Describe the chemistry of the heterocycles listed in Unit3 in terms of molecular orbital theory, aromaticity, and reactions. (Chemistry 201)