Chemistry 113 is a periodically offered course that introduces students to physical organic chemistry.
CHEM 3A/CHEM 12A and CHEM 3B/CHEM 12B
Additional Notes
3 hours of lecture per week. Problem sets take 1-2 hours.
The class is predominantly juniors and seniors with some sophomores, as this is an upper-division elective course for the chemistry major. This course assumes knowledge of Organic I/II, so it’s a good idea to take this after taking Chem 3A/B or 12A/B. No knowledge of quantum mechanics or statistical mechanics (Chem 120A/B) is required, although the class does touch on Transition State Theory which is usually covered in Chem 120B.
Note that this class is only offered in the fall.
The recommended textbook for this course is Anslyn & Dougherty’s Modern Physical Organic Chemistry, a standard physical organic chemistry textbook. I found Ian Fleming’s Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions helpful for the thermal pericyclic reactions section of the class (the last few lectures). Lectures often follow Anslyn & Dougherty quite closely, and it may be helpful to follow along with the textbook or a textbook PDF (easily found online).
Overall, this class was very relaxed, due to the short number of lectures (24 total) and the infrequency of graded assignments (7 total assignments / exams total!). Exams were generally straightforward. Feel free to take this class during a harder semester.
This course is an elective that may fulfill part of the Allied Subjects requirement.
Written by: Edward Mu
Last edited: Fall 2018