Structure Elucidation in Chemistry

Structure elucidation is essential in all areas of chemistry, from understanding the behaviour of engineered enzymes or functional materials, to the creation of new medicines to treat disease. This course describes the fundamentals of chemical structure and symmetry, and the use of molecular orbital theory and quantum mechanics to understand molecular properties and chemical spectroscopy. It has a major focus on problem solving and acquiring applied skills to deploy concepts of symmetry, spectroscopy, spectrometry and diffraction to define chemical structure across all states of matter. Advanced research-level strategies for elucidating complex structures will be developed by connecting the partial structural information obtained from infra-red spectroscopy (IR), UV-visible spectroscopy, 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (MS) and X-ray crystallography. Honours pathway option (HPO): Entry to this option is subject to the approval of the course convener. Students who take this option will undertake advanced self-directed learning based on problems presented in the workshops and in place of the workshops. It is expected that all students in the PhB (Hons) or direct entry Honours degree programs enrolled in this course will complete the HPO. Proposed Assessment Honours Pathway Option: The HPO will count for up to 10% of the final course grade and the standard course will count at least 90%.