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CH 203 Fall 2014 Syllabus

Section B

Dr. Scot Pounds
email: scotpounds@gmail.com
Office: SCI272B
Office hours: SCI272B, MWF 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Lecture: MWF 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Discussion Sections: Discussions begin the week of Monday, September 8
Attendance at a discussion section is mandatory. Quizzes will be given.
Your postdoctoral teaching fellow is Dr. Ya Zhou, SCI272A

Discussion sections

B0 KCB 103 Mon 9:00am 10:00am
B1 PSY B45 Tue 2:00pm 3:00pm
B2 PRB 150 Wed 9:00am 10:00am
B3 CAS 229 Tue 3:30pm 4:30pm
B4 MCS B21 Wed 1:00pm 2:00pm
B5 CAS 235 Wed 2:00pm 3:00pm
B7 SOC B65 Wed 4:00pm 5:00pm
B8 CAS 426 Mon 1:00pm 2:00pm

Required Materials
(1) Textbook: Brown, William; Foote, Christopher; Iverson, Brent; Anslyn, Eric. Organic
Chemistry, 7th ed. Brooks/Cole. (BU custom addition) (6
th
edition will work, but 7
th
edition is
recommended)
(2) Molecular models (optional but highly recommended). Many suitable styles (e.g., space-
filling, ball-and-stick, framework) are available.
(3) Safety glasses: Must have side shields and be approved for lab use. Safety glasses must be
worn in the lab at all times!
(5) Lab notebook: Must make carbon-copy pages.
(6) Lab coat

Grading Policies
On-line homework + discussion quizzes 10%
Lecture exams (No exams will be dropped) 45%
Final 30%
Lab 15%

On-line homework
Weekly homework will be due on Mondays at 6 pm starting September 8 on sapling learning.
Instructions on how to access sapling learning can be found on the Scribd CH203 site
(http://www.scribd.com/collections/5494720/BU-CH203-materials) or go to
http://www2.saplinglearning.com/ and create an account under higher education.
#

Clickers
Response card RF (ie clickers) are optional. If you answer 90% of the questions and get 50% of
them correct and your grade in the class is on a grade border you will be boosted to the higher
grade. Clickers can be registered online on the blackboard learn website under tools.

Lecture exams
Three 50-minute exams are administered during lecture meeting time (10 10:50 am).
Wednesday, October 1
Wednesday, November 5
Wednesday, December 3

All lecture exams are cumulative. Lecture exams are graded on a 100-point basis and scaled to a
75-point class median by adding a maximum of 15 points to raw scores. No points are added if
the class median is 75 points or higher. No make-up lecture exams are given for any reason. Do
not make travel plans that conflict with the lecture exams. If you are sick, have a death in the
family, religious conflict, etc. please contact Dr. Pounds as soon as possible.

Final exam
A cumulative 2-hour final exam is administered on Wednesday, Dec 17 (9:00 am-11:00 am).
Final exams are graded on a 100-point basis and scaled to a 75-point class median by adding a
maximum of 15 points to raw scores. No points are added if the class median is 75 points or
higher. See the Incompletes section of this syllabus for policies concerning missed final
exams.

Lab grades
The laboratory coordinator gives full details concerning lab grades in a separately prepared lab
syllabus. You must complete all of the labs (do the lab and turn in a lab report) to pass the class.

Letter grades
Course grades are calculated by the following formula:
(1.5 ! E) + (1.5 ! L) + H Where E is the total of your 3 exams and final, L is your lab score
based on 100 points, and H is your on-line homework score/quizzes based on 100 points. (Exams
are 100 points each and final is 200 points.)
Grade ranges are:
A " 925
925 > A " 875
875 > B+ " 850
850 > B " 775
775 > B " 750
750 > C+ " 675
675 > C " 625
625 > C " 550
550 > D " 500
500 > F
$
There are no extra-credit projects to offset poor performance on exams. Please do not ask to have
your course grade gratuitously raised because you fail to satisfy the GPA requirements of your
program of study, scholarship, etc.

Regrades of exams
Please check your exams for adding/grading (clerical) errors. Regrade appeals must be submitted
to Dr. Pounds (in writing only) within one week after exams are returned. Except for clerical
errors, regrade requests will be a reevaluation of the entire exam. The exam in question,
accompanied by an exam regrade sheet, which you can find on blackboardlearn.bu, must be
submitted no later than one week after the exam is returned. This is a firm deadline. NOTE WE
PHOTOCOPY A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF EXAMS BEFORE WE RETURN THEM. ALL
ATTEMPTS TO CHANGE AN ANSWER PRIOR TO A REGRADE WILL BE CONSIDERED
CHEATING (SEE ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT BELOW).
Other Policies
Rules for taking exams
(1) Expect to place all personal belongings (e.g., backpacks, clothing that you will not be
wearing) at the front of the room. You may not refer to books or notes of any kind. You may not
have any electronic devices (e.g., laptops, PDAs, iPods, cell phones) in your possession. Silence
all telecommunication equipment including the vibrator function. You should bring a functioning
stand-alone (i.e., not the calculator built in to your cell phone) scientific calculator to the exam
when instructed to do so. You may use molecular models but only if they are contained in a clear
plastic bag.
(2) Do not look at anyone else's exam. There is no talking to other students or sharing of any
materials such as writing instruments or molecular models. Scratch paper is not allowed.
(3) Do not consume food or beverages and refrain from asking to go to the restroom. Do not
wear hats, caps, or other headgear unless you do so for religious reasons.
(4) If you arrive late, you are not given additional time to complete the exam. If you finish the
exam early, hand it in and leave the examination hall with the minimum disturbance. Do not
congregate in the common area immediately outside the examination hall waiting for your
friends.
Academic misconduct
Cases of suspected academic misconduct (e.g., cheating on exams, plagiarism of lab reports) are
reported to the Academic Conduct Committee, which investigates and takes appropriate action.
Incompletes
If, for a valid reason that is corroborated by documentation and communicated to the lecturer in
advance, you miss the final exam, you will be given an incomplete (I) grade. You must be in
good academic standing (i.e., not failing the course) to be considered for an incomplete. You
must meet with the lecturer to draw up a schedule for making up a missed final exam. An
incomplete grade automatically and permanently changes to a failing grade (F) 12 months after
the completion of the course. Incompletes based on your failing to satisfactorily complete the
laboratory portion of the course are left to the discretion of the laboratory coordinator.
Withdrawals
The last day to withdraw from the course without a W grade is October 6. The last day to
withdraw from the course with a W grade is November 7.
Students with disabilities
%
Students having disabilities and whom the Boston University Office of Disabilities Services
approves for special accommodation should present documentation to that effect to the lecturer
by Friday, September 26, so that acceptable arrangements for taking exams can be made.
Students presenting such documentation must take all exams at a special venue arranged by the
lecturer.
Website
The syllabus, lecture notes, practice exams, study guides, etc., are posted at
http://www.scribd.com/collections/5494720/BU-CH203-materials

Letters of Recommendation
I will write a letter of recommendation for anyone in this class, however I will give an honest
opinion, as is the duty of all recommenders. You should be aware that this is a large class, and it
is difficult to say much in such a letter other than to give your grade. For this reason, except for
special circumstances, I cannot write the letter until the semester is over and your final grade
determined. I will also describe the course with the following paragraph:

Organic Chemistry CH 203 is the larger, organic chemistry class with >200 students in the
lecture, which meets for three lecture hours each week, with a one hour discussion. The
laboratory component meets biweekly, with 6 labs per semester.

You MUST waive your rights to review the letter, or I will not write it. You should ask me first
whether I can write a supporting letter or not. Also, I must have a minimum 14 days notice.
Otherwise, I cannot guarantee I will get the letter out on time.

Lecture Topics
Reading and Homework
To derive the maximum benefit from the lecture do the assigned reading from then text or the
on-line version of the lecture notes before class: in this way, you can pay more attention to what
is being said in the lecture. The on-line lecture notes are intended to supplement, not replace, the
textbook and coming to lecture. Studying organic chemistry means doing problems. Yes, you
must read and memorize, but most of your study time should be devoted to solving problems. Do
not look at the answer until you have given the problem a serious try. Work the in-chapter
problems pertaining to the assigned sections in the text, do as many end-of-chapter problems
needed to gain mastery of the material. Recall that there are also mandatory online homework
problem sets to be submitted on sapling learning. Please keep current with the lecture material:
cramming the night before an exam usually fails to produce adequate results because most
students cannot effectively absorb the subject matter in a short amount of time.

OWL
If you purchased a new copy of the book from the bookstore you will have access to OWL
(online homework) from the books publisher. There are additional problems on their website
you can do for practice. Instructors on how to access OWL can be found on blackboard learn and
the course code for CH 203 is E-X7FG2RL9Z3FJJ. OWL is not mandatory, it is just an
additional resource.

Tutoring
&
The first step in getting extra help is to come to office hours. Chemia, the Undergraduate ACS
affiliate of chemistry majors at BU, operates a free tutoring service. Tutoring is also available
through the Education Resource Center in the George Sherman Union, 4
th
floor
(http://www.bu.edu/erc/).

Tentative Topics:

Topic Reading
Covalent Bonding and Shapes of Molecules Ch 1

Conformational Analysis/Alkanes Ch 2
Stereoisomerism and Chirality Ch 3 and Ch 5.1, 5.2
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Ch 13
Haloalkanes, Halogenation and Radical Reactions Ch 8
Acid and Bases Ch 4
Haloalkanes, Halogenation and Radical Reactions Ch 8
Reactions of Alkenes and Alkynes Ch 6 and Ch 7


This syllabus is simply a rough outline of how the course should progress. If unforeseen circumstances arise, the
instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus or adjust the tentative schedule as necessary