Department of Chemistry s6

Department of Chemistry

University of Missouri-St. Louis

Chemistry 4652: Organic Spectroscopy

Spring 2017

Lecturer: James S. Chickos

Office 435 BH

Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays 4:00-5:30 PM and by appointment

Please note: I will be out of the country and unavailable until the third week of the semester

Textbook: Introduction to Spectroscopy, Pavia, Lampman and Kritz, Saunders, 5th Edition.

Synopsis: Spectroscopy has become the most important tool available to the synthetic organic chemist. The routine use of nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy in structure determination necessitates the development of some understanding of the fundamental principles involved in each experiment and of how to apply these principles along with the numerous correlation tables available to solve structural problems. One of the most difficult aspects associated in interpreting molecular spectra, is learning how to assess the reliability of assignments suggested by the numerous absorption bands that most molecules exhibit.

This course will introduce the most commonly used spectroscopic techniques, infrared, Raman, nmr and mass spectroscopy and then will focus on the practical application of these techniques to solve spectroscopic problems. Emphasis will be placed not only on how to use spectra to elucidate structure but will also attempt to illustrate how to interpret spectra in cases where complete structure identification may not be possible.

This semester the first week of the course will begin by introducing X-ray crystallography taught by Professor Nigam Rath. Methods for determining molecular formulas, and molecular weight determinations by mass spectrmetry will be covered in the second week by Professor Ben Bythell. This will be followed by an introduction to infrared and Raman spectoscopy. 1H and 13 C nmr will follow and the course will conclude by revisiting mass spectrometry time permitting.

Grades in the course will be based both on problem sets and examinations. More than one problem set may be given in some sections. Two examinations and a final will be given, each at the end of a major section. Half of the total number of points will be earned on take home problem sets. The remainder of the credit will be earned by examination.

This course depends heavily on interpretation of molecular spectra. To assist you in taking notes, copies of most of the spectra to be discussed are available on the web. This material can be accessed at www.umsl.edu/~chickosj.

The best way to study for this course is to solve as many problems as possible. A collection of spectroscopy problems are available in your text. Nmr spectra can be simulated using RACCOON, and NMR software produced by ACD. The ACD software is available on the student network. I believe the software will permit a maximum of two simultaneous users. The RACCOON software will be provided. Additional details will be provided in class at the appropriate time.