units

PSC1021

Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Monash University

Undergraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
OfferedParkville First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Dr Bim Graham

Synopsis

This unit provides students with an introduction to the fundamentals of organic chemistry, with an emphasis on those aspects that are relevant to understanding the structure, properties and mechanism of action of therapeutic agents.

Topics include:

  • chemical structure, bonding and shape
  • introduction to organic chemistry
  • alkanes and cycloalkanes
  • alkenes and alkynes
  • chirality
  • haloalkanes
  • alcohols, ethers and thiols
  • benzene and its derivatives
  • spectroscopy/pharmaceutical analysis

Outcomes

At the end of this unit students will be able to:

  1. Apply the key concepts in chemical structure and bonding, including functional groups, to rationalising the shape, properties and reactions of molecules;
  2. Explain the role of molecular shapes and electronic distributions as the basis for drug-receptor interactions;
  3. Be proficient in basic laboratory techniques.

Assessment

Final written examination (3 hours): 60%; mid-semester test: 10%; practical classes: 15%; tutorial classes: 10%, in-class exercises: 5%

Workload requirements

Contact hours for on-campus students:

  • Twenty three 1-hour lectures
  • Six 1-hour tutorials
  • Five 3-hour lab practicals
  • Three 3-hour computer-based workshops

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at: