Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Organic Chemistry
Organic chemistry involves the study of the structure, properties, reactions and synthesis of compounds that are primarily based on carbon, although a wide variety of other atoms such as nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur and many metals may also be present. Carbon based compounds have an extremely rich chemistry and make life itself possible (proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids are carbon based compounds). Carbon compounds are also the foundation of the many natural and synthetic materials that we depend on as a society and individually, such as pharmaceutical products (medicines), energy (petroleum based products), clothing (wool, cotton, nylon, polyester), and plastics and polymers (PVC, synthetic rubber, carbon fiber reinforced plastics).
Name | Rank |
---|---|
Saeed Attar, Ph.D. | Professor |
Qiao-Hong Chen, Ph.D. | Associate Professor |
Kristi Closser, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor |
Joseph R. Gandler, Ph.D. | Professor |
Kalyani Maitra, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor |
Santanu Maitra, Ph.D. | Professor |
The organic chemistry faculty are responsible for teaching the following department courses in organic chemistry as well as general chemistry courses.
Course Num. | Course Name |
---|---|
CHEM 8 | Elementary Organic Chemistry |
CHEM 128A | Organic Chemistry I |
CHEM 128B | Organic Chemistry II |
CHEM 129A | Organic Chemistry Laboratory I |
CHEM 129B | Organic Chemistry Laboratory II |
CHEM 230 | Advanced Organic Chemistry |
CHEM 235 | Physical Organic Chemistry |