CHEM 328: The second semester of comprehensive treatment of the chemistry of carbon compounds, including nomenclature, structure-reactivity relationships, reaction mechanisms, synthesis, and spectroscopy. Prerequisite: CHEM 326.

The UCAN (Understand Curved Arrow Notation) software is available at http://www.usd.edu/~gsereda/computer.html

This course is managed through D2L. If you have any technical questions regarding this software, direct your questions to your instructor or to the USD IT Helpdesk.

NOTES:
1. The Final Exam for CHEM 328 will be an American Chemical Society standardized exam covering both semesters.
2. If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Dr. Elaine Pearson, Director of Disability Services (Service Center 119, 677-6389) as early as possible in the semester.

INSTRUCTOR:
Grigoriy A. Sereda
Office: CL 108
Phone: 677-6190
e-mail: gsereda@usd.edu
Web: http://www.usd.edu/~gsereda
Office Hours: MWF 9:15 am - 10:15 am

TEXTS/MATERIALS:
1. Organic Chemistry, 9th Ed., T.W. Graham Solomons, Craig B. Fryhle, New York, 2008. ISBN 978-0-471-68496-1 (required)
2. Laser pointer (required)
3. Organic Chemistry as a Second Language, David R. Klein (recommended)
4. Organic Chemistry for Dummies and the Reference for the Rest of Us (recommended)

COURSE POLICIES:

Attendance: Attendance at lectures (from the beginning until the end) is required - very few students can do well in organic chemistry without consistent attendance. Important information relevant to the course (due dates for homeworks, online exercises, additional assignments, etc.) may be announced on lectures only once.

BOR and USD requirments: 1. Freedom in learning.  Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal opinion or conduct should contact the dean of the college which offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.

2. If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Director of the Office of Disability Services, (Service Center 199; 677-6389) as early as possible in the semester.

3. A student caught engaging in any form of academic dishonesty will be given a zero for that assignment. In addition, the case will be reported to the University administration, which may result in severe academic consequences.

Examples of academic dishonesty:
a. Use of other student's work without explicit permission of the instructor.
b. Allowing another student to use your work without explicit permission of the instructor.
c. Use of unauthorized materials during quizzes and exams.
d. Altering your answers before discussing your test score with the instructor.

Grading: Your grade will be determined as follows: The total number of points accumulated on exams, quizzes, and problem assignments, as listed below, will be calculated.

Hour Exams (3)	300 points (100 points each)
Quizzes (10)	300 points (30 points each)
Homeworks (10)	100 points (10 points each)
Online practice (10)	100 points (10 points each)
Final Exam:	200 points
TOTAL	1000 points

Letter grades will then be assigned on the basis of points accumulated and your performance versus performance of the rest of the class, with the following cutoffs. The cutoffs may be slightly lowered at the discretion of the instructor.

A– 90% percentile
B – 80% percentile
C – 65% percentile
D– 50% percentile

Your current grades will be available on D2L

No curving will be done in this course. However, additional assignments for extra credits may be given to the whole class .

Lectures: Prior to each lecture students must read the lecture notes, available on the instructor's website and complete the assignment, given at the previous lecture.

All assignments given to students (homeworks, quizzes, exams, online excercises, or additional assignments) will be discussed in class. After that class period, you have one week to claim your assignment and discuss your score with the instructor. All unclaimed assignments will be discarded by the end of that week.

Exams: Exams will be given on the dates, listed in the syllabus. If you missed an exam, or want to improve your grade, you may take the make-up exam described below. Students who must miss an exam for Institutional reasons (e.g., travel for participation in intercollegiate athletics, academic conferences, etc.) may arrange to take the exam to be missed immediately prior to their departure from campus. The excuse must be submitted to the instructor prior to the exam to be missed. The supporting documentation must be provided.

For any reason, an exam can not be taken after it has been discussed in class. If you missed more than one exam for any reason, the decision on your case will be made by the instructor by the end of the semester (most likely outcome - an incomplete grade).

In order to make grading as consistent and fair as possible, and to prepare you for the format of the final test, the exams will be made of Multiple Choice questions. The scantron forms must be completed using a No. 2 pencil. Do not forget to write your name and enter your student ID on the scantron. Exams not given to the proctor by the end of the test period will receive a grade of zero. Each exam will be based on the knowledge aquired by the students since the beginning of the course with the emphasis on the material covered since the last exam. The final exam for the course will be comprehensive.

Make-Up Exam: For students who have missed a regularly scheduled hour exam, the score on the make-up exam will count as the score on the exam that have been missed. Students who have taken all of the regularly scheduled hour exams may also take the make-up exam and use the score on this exam to replace their lowest hour exam score, if the score on the make-up exam is higher. The make-up exam will be comprehensive.

Quizzes: Ten quizzes will be given during the semester. Each quiz will be based on the knowledge aquired by the students since the beginning of the course with the emphasis on the material covered since the last quiz or exam.

Quizzes may contain both Multiple Choice questions and questions required written answers or drawings. To avoid inconsistency in grading, partial credits for written answers and drawings will be rare exceptions. A correct drawing must have correct chemical bonds, correct charges, and correct use of curved arrows in reaction mechanizms. Quizzes should be written using a black or blue pen; if pencil is used in writing a quiz, any complaints concerning discrepancies in grading will be ignored. Quizzes not given to the proctor by the end of the test period will receive a grade of zero.

Students who must miss a quiz for Institutional reasons, or because of health problems or family emergencies may arrange to take the quiz to be missed immediately prior to their departure from campus. The excuse must be submitted to the instructor prior to the quiz to be missed. The supporting documentation must be provided. One quiz during the semester may be missed without an excusable reason.

For any reason, a quiz can not be taken after it has been discussed in class. Decision on exceptonal situations (such as persisting health problems) will be made by the instructor by the end of the semester. Note: a doctor appointment that could have been scheduled for another time is not an excusable reason for missing a quiz.

Homeworks: There will be total of 10 homeworks. Each homework assignment will be given on a lecture as soon as the class is ready to take it. The homeworks should be turned in at the date, announces on the lecture. Each completed homework brings you the full credit. The homeworks will be corrected on the next lecture, during a class discussion.

Online exercises: There will be total of 10 exercises, which must be completed online (D2L). The due date for each exercise will be announced on a lecture as soon as the class is ready to take the assignment. The exercises will be graded online. You will be allowed 2 (two) attempts and you will keep the highest score.

Quiz 1 January 21
Quiz 2 February 4
Quiz 3 February 11
Exam 1 February 18
Quiz 4 February 25
Quiz 5 March 4
Quiz 6 March 18
Exam 2 March 25
Quiz 7 April 1
Quiz 8 April 8
Exam 3 April 15
Quiz 9 April 22
Make-up Exam Friday, April 24
Quiz 10 April 29
Final Exam Tuesday, May 5, 5:30-7:30 pm in CL 170

USE YOUR LASER POINTER TO PROVIDE TIMELY AND HONEST FEEDBACK TO THE INSTRUCTOR DURING LECTURES. If you hide your problems and questions from the instructor, you will be left behind because of your fault. Remember: 1. There are no stupid questions. 2. Your instructor does not bite.

WORK THE PROBLEMS. There are no short-cuts here. Organic chemistry is not a subject that one can learn simply by going to lecture, reading the text, and reviewing lecture notes (i.e., its not a spectator sport). The process of writing out structures, equations, and diagrams is the key to understanding organic chemistry. When working problems, do not just read a problem and think about the answer – write it out. Also, do not lookup the answer to a problem in the solutions manual until you have made a reasonable attempt to solve the problem on your own. If you answer a problem incorrectly, make sure you understand the mistake and the correct answer.

The problems that have been assigned for credit represent the minimum you should understand to be successful in this course. In addition to these problems, you should work the “in-text” problems as you read the chapter and take the self-test in the solutions manual at the end of each chapter. Working additional problems at the end of each chapter will provide a deeper understanding of the principles of organic chemistry. If you want to work more problems, try other organic textbooks or study guides for organic chemistry (e.g., Schaum’s Outline Series).

Some of the assigned problems and “in-text” problems will appear on quizzes and exams.

DON’T TRY TO MEMORIZE EVERYTHING. Memorization can be the road to disaster; there is just too much material. Instead, try to understand the basic concepts and apply these principles to the solution of problems.

KEEP UP WITH THE MATERIAL AND SPREAD OUT YOUR STUDY TIME. Almost every lecture in this course will build upon concepts developed in previous lectures. Try to spend some time each day reading and working problems. Don’t try to learn all of the material a day or two before an exam – most successful students find that spreading out study time over several one to two hour study periods is much more productive than all night “cram sessions”.

FORM STUDY GROUPS. Studying in groups, especially when working problems, is a good way to help learn organic chemistry.

USE MOLECULAR MODELS. Organic chemistry is a three-dimensional science. Although the instructor and text can use drawings (two-dimensional) to help you visualize molecules, there is no substitute for building a molecular model and looking at it from different perspectives.

USE ONLINE RESOURCES. The Internet is full of resources to study organic chemistry (such as online courses, practice problems, free modeling program ChemSketch, etc. Some of them are linked from your instructor's website at http://www.usd.edu/~gsereda

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, ASK THEM. If you can not stop by you instructor's office during the Office Hours, make an appointment or just walk-in.