Organic Chemistry I & II (CHEM 3411, CHEM 3421), Advanced Organic Chemistry (CHEM 3510)

Teaching is part of a fundamental process that prepares the next generation of professionals worldwide. Organic chemistry is taken by a wide array of students with various interests, e.g., Chemistry, Biology, Biomedical fields, Bioengineering; and professional goals, e.g., graduate school, medical school, dental school, teaching, or industry. Therefore this class has a direct impact on decisions taken by our student population, thus I believe that it is important to give a broad perspective on the importance of this subject matter without sacrificing the rigor of the course materials.

Students taking any of these three courses will be exposed to current literature by examining and writing reports on articles from C & EN (CHEM 3411) or other journals with high reputation in the area of organic chemistry worldwide (CHEM 3421), e.g., Journal of Organic Chemistry, Organic Letters, European Journal of Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Tetrahedron, or Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry. In addition, midterm exams, quizzes, and in-class problems will be administered throughout the course to assess individual progress in the class. The topics/options for journals at the graduate level course (CHEM 5310) are extended, but not limited, to: JACS, Chemical Communications, Journal of Natural Products, Angewandte Chemie, or ChemBioChem.

The organic series course (CHEM 3411/3421) is some times supported with Learning Assistants (LAs). These individuals function as in-class support that are involved in various activities within, and outside, of the classroom. They are students that have mastered the material of the course and with a degree of pedagogical training to enhance learning in the classroom. LAs hold office hours once a week and times vary every semester.

Another important aspect of CHEM 3411 and CHEM 5310 is the incorporation of short oral presentations (see below for some examples). This aims to provide practice in public speaking by exposing topics in organic chemistry while using proper scientific language.

• Click here for examples of oral presentations for CHEM 5310 or here.
• Click here for examples of oral presentations for CHEM 3410

Invited speakers from academia and industry: Prof. Alejandro Bugarin-UT Arlington (Fall 2016); Dr. Alexander Buitrago Santanilla-GlaxoSmithKline (Spring 2017)

Special activities on campus: Symposium on C-H functionalization (Spring 2015); Sachamama Climate Innovation Lab (Spring 2018)

Some links for tutoring and other resources are below:

The class offers office hours (typically one hour before class time), however there is an understanding that many people may not be able to attend the set times and students are encouraged to e-mail Prof. Resendiz and schedule time to meet outside class/office hours times.

Tutoring services from CU Denver.

Examples of syllabi for each of the courses described above are below:

• Syllabus CHEM 3411 (Tentative)
• Syllabus CHEM 3421 (Tentative)
• Syllabus CHEM 5310 (Tentative)

Examples for oral presentations for CHEM 5310:

Pictures from recent activities and class: