-As one of the Natural Sciences, chemistry has evolved out of careful observation and experimentation; as technology evolves, so does the body of chemical knowledge. This course will integrate relevant technological advances and their impact in the formulation of chemical principles and their applications. Furthermore, the laboratory component of the course will help to illustrate and apply some of these technological advances.

Organic chemistry provides the student with the necessary background to understand the chemistry of carbon-containing compounds. Topics will include structure, stereochemistry, nomenclature, synthesis, properties, and reactions of the major classes of organic compounds. A non-mathematical, mechanistic approach is used in the course to explain the reactions of these compounds.

The laboratory component consists of a series of experiments that illustrate synthesis of organic compounds, fermentation chemistry and natural products isolation. A strong emphasis is put on analytical techniques for product separation and purification, as well as on instrumentation as a tool for studying properties and characterization of the isolated compounds.