CHEM1829 deals with a range of fundamental concepts that can be used to explain various phenomena in chemistry, biology and material science. It enables students to develop further their knowledge of Biological Chemistry and probes a diverse range of synthetic and biological molecules including enzymes and their reactions, focusing on applications such as drug development, bioenergetics and metabolism.

A key part of biological chemistry is to study the speed of chemical reactions providing a strong foundation for material covered later in the course. The course introduces modern structure determination methods and the concepts of stereochemistry, which are important in understanding the shape and structure of chemicals. The next section of the course provides an introduction to transition metals chemistry. Transition metal compounds, d-element electron configuration, new metal bonding theories, transition metals and colours and the key reaction mechanisms exhibited by transition metal chemistry are discussed. The next section of the course deals with the chemistry of carbon-containing compounds and their reactions. Students are introduced to a range of chemistry that enables their preparation of new molecules starting from readily available materials. The course then gives a summary of how these concepts are applicable to the chemistry of amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids and lipids. The final section of this course introduces students to the field of Biological organic chemistry, including enzymology, bioenergetics, carbohydrate metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, metabolism and hormone function.

Note: Restricted to programs 3952 and students doing a Vision Science major.