Learning objectives
To teach the student the scientific methodology underlying organic-biochemical-chemical chemistry of natural substances; <br />
-to provide the student with the bases for interpreting the principal biological phenomena, above all in relation to their importance in the agro-alimentary chain; <br />
-to show how reading from a molecular point of view constitutes the basis for a proper understanding and rationalisation of fundamental sectors such as food and biotechnology. <br />
Prerequisites
The General Chemistry module is propaedeutic to that of Organic Chemistry.
Course unit content
-Structure and bonds of organic compounds. Electronic structure of organic atoms and molecules. Bonds and intermolecular forces. Structure and formula of organic molecules, resonance. Isomerism, conformational and configurational isomerism. Stereochemistry, chirality, optical activity, enantiomers and diastereoisomers. Significance of chirality in biological systems and in the agricultural sector. <br />
- Reactivity of organic molecules. Homolytic fission reactions; radical chain reactions, the importance of radical reactions in the food-processing sector, oxidation of fatty acids. Kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of a reaction, reaction co-ordinates, physical-chemical properties and reactivity of alkanes. Heterolytic fission reactions; meaning of the concepts of acid and base and electrophile and nucleophile; concept of catalysis, effect of solvents. Mechanisms reaction and intermediary: substitution reactions, elimination, addition, ox-redox reactions. <br />
- Physicochemical properties and reactivity of: alkenes, aromatics, alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, amines, carboxylic acids and derivatives. - Organic chemistry in action. The concepts discussed in previous modules will be used to interpret the phenomenona and fundamental events in the food-processing sector. Carbohydrates, classifications: monosaccharides and their properties, mutarotation: disaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides. <br />
- Lipids, classification: triglycerides, fatty acids, soaps and detergents, phospholipids and steroids. Amino acids and proteins; acid-base properties of amino acids: peptides and proteins. <br />
Bibliography
W. Brown, Introduzione alla Chimica Organica, Edises, Naples. <br />
J. McMurry, Fondamenti di Chimica Organica, Zanichelli Bologna. <br />
J. McMurry, Chimica organica un approccio biologico, Zanichelli, Bologna. <br />
