This module aims to give students an in-depth knowledge of the reaction mechanisms and application to predicting synthetic pathways of common organic molecules. Emphasis will be placed on the synthesis of legal and illegal drugs. Students will be expected to propose synthetic routes for simple compounds.
Physical Organic Theory:
Potential energy diagrams, concerted reactions, step-wise reactions, transition states, rate determining steps, Hammond postulate.
Important reactions of alkenes and alkynes:
Carbocation reactions, Oxidation of alkenes, Diels-Alder Reaction, Reduction of Alkynes.
Reactions at the Carbonyl Group:
Grignard, Wittig ; Acetals and Ketals – Oxidation- Reduction-Protecting groups-Organolithium reagents and enolate anion reaction: Organolithium reagents (n-BuLi and LDA, LiHMDS, etc).
Retrosynthetic Analysis:
One group disconnections; Synthons; Synthetic equivalents; Reagents used for functional group manipulation; Synthetic route design and development.
Condensation reactions:
Aldol, Claisen, Dieckmann, Knoevenagel, Michael Addition,Choice of condensation reactions.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 30 |
| Formal Examination | 70 |