Chemistry 324 - Spring 2008

Todd and Melissa have requested Wed, April 30, 10 am as the date and time for our wrap-up breakfast. Does this work for everyone else? If I don’t hear otherwise, I will assume it does.

I will drive my van so that we can load everyone into it.

Download the description of the final project.

When it comes time to write, you may also be interested in my excerpts from the ACS Style Guide. (Also posted on the Miscellaneous page under “Journal articles - described“)

The article on CuAAC (copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloadditions) can be found in issue #1, volume #40 of Aldrichimica Acta.

• Aldrichimica Acta home page
• Sortable index of all Aldrichimica Acta articles

Click chemistry even has its own Wikipedia page. Click here.

We aren’t tracking very well with the online schedule at this point. Here is what I had planned at the start of the semester:

• M 4/14 - Click 3+2 cycloadditions, distribute paper #8
• W 4/16 - Thermal 3+2 cycloadditions, collect HW #8
• F 4/18 - discuss paper #8, distribute exam #2, distribute final project instructions
• M 4/21 - 3+2 modeling session

I would still like to cover these topics, but we’ve lost a day because I never built student evaluations into my schedule, so I am going to catch up by eliminating paper #8. Here is my current plan for the remainder of the semester:

• M 4/14 - Photochemical 2+2 & singlet oxygen
• W 4/16 - Click 3+2 cycloadditions, collect HW #8
• F 4/18 - Thermal 3+2 cycloadditions, distribute exam #2, distribute final project instructions
• M 4/21 - 3+2 modeling session

After M 4/21, I will also change my office hours to 10-11 instead of 11-11:30 because we won’t have any more scheduled classes. However, I would still like to take all of you to breakfast before the end of the semester.

The first problem on the homework assignment asks you to predict reaction products, but because I cut my lecture off before the final page of notes, I failed to give you some crucial information.

The final page of notes can be downloaded here. Please read it before you try to work the problem.

After class, I built some models (B3LYP/6-31G*) of Claisen rearrangement transition states. The chair transition state is ~4 kcal/mol more stable than the boat when ZPE correction is included (ΔZPE ~0.3 kcal/mol). (more…)

I have just learned that Prof. Ken Houk, one of the leaders in computational studies of Diels-Alder reactions (and related pericyclics), will be speaking at Portland State University on Friday, Feb 15, 3:15-4:20. Here is the information that I have copied from the PSU seminar page:

Winter 2008 Seminars

All seminars will be held from 3:15 - 4:20 PM in Science Building 1 Room 107 unless otherwise noted.

Feb. 15 Kendall Houk
University of California, Los Angeles
Theory and Modeling of Stereoselective Organic Reactions

This is a rare opportunity to hear from one of the genuine stars in this field. Please plan to attend. We can discuss how I might facilitate your attendance at our next class, or we can get the discussion going by email. Email Alan now.

Houk Research Lab + recent article (Kelli S. Khuong, Chris M. Beaudry, Dirk Trauner, and K. N. Houk: “Dienophile Twisting and Substituent Effects Influence Reaction Rates of Intramolecular Diels-Alder Cycloadditions: A DFT Study,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 3688-3689.)

Welcome back to Reed. And thank you for signing up for Chem 324 - Adv. Mechanistic Organic Chemistry.

You are probably wondering what this course will be about and that’s why you came here looking for some information. Well, your curiosity is well warranted. The course changes almost every year and that means there isn’t much in the way of an established track record. It also means that I am almost as much in the dark as you. You can get a small peek at what I have planned by looking at the About page and the Syllabus (stored under Miscellaneous with other good stuff).

Point of interest: because this is a blog and not a standard web page, you can submit comments and questions of your own. You can also sign up to have every post automatically emailed to you.

It’s easy to do. Try it. Or ask me how to do it.