To teach principles that govern the process of modern drug discovery and development. Students in the course follow a path similar to that taken by real-life drug developers by learning important elements of the drug design process in a logical order.
The Course:
CHEM 109C is the final course of a three-course sequence (CHEM 109A-B-C). The CHEM 109 sequence provides students the fundamentals of organic chemistry and is mainly intended for students in the field of chemistry and biology.
The current course, CHEM W 109C, focuses on:
1) Exploration of theoretical concepts such as nucleophilicity, basicity, and stability of reaction intermediates in predicting chemical reactivity. For example, we will discuss factors that determine the outcome of aromatic electrophilic substitutions in substituted benzenes and aromatic heterocyclic compounds.
2) Structure and reactions of organic compounds found in living organisms: carbohydrates, amino acids, peptides, heterocyclic molecules, nucleotides, and coenzymes. These topics make up the bulk of the course
3) Principles of catalysis with focus on chemistry of coenzymes and enzymes. We will also discuss the organic chemistry of biochemical processes within the living cell.
Successful completion of CHEM W 109C prepares you well for college-level biochemistry courses. Because of a strong overlap between CHEM W 109C material and MCAT 2015 requirements, students completing this course are also in a strong position to tackle the “Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems” section of the MCAT.