Great
Ideas in Chemistry from General Chemistry II
-
Reaction Kinetics: 1) Factors (concentration, temperature, surface area)
that affect reaction rates: 2) Determination of reaction order, rate constants,
and reaction rate; 3) Calculation of Ea from rate constants at different
temperatures; 4) Arrhenius equation and determination of fraction with
at least a specific KE; 5) Fundamental events required for chemical reactions
to occur; 6) Understanding of the First Law of Thermodynamics (PE - KE
conversions) in relation to reaction kinetics
-
Enzymes: 1) Understanding of amino acid structures; 2) Protein structure;
3) Reaction energy diagrams and mechanism of enzyme action; 4) Substrate-enzyme
interactions; 5) Michaelis-Menton model of enzyme kinetics; 5) Lineweaver-Burke
Model for calculation of KM, turnover number, and Vmax; 6) Physical significance
of KM; 7) Enzyme inhibition
-
Noncovalent Interactions: 1) Prediction of hydrogen bond donor/acceptors
from molecular structure; 2) Ionic interactions at active and receptor
sites and functional groups responsible for these; 3) London (van der Waals)
interactions; 4) Interaction between cations and pi electrons; 4) Prediction
of relative magnitude of intermolecular forces for various substances;
5) Understanding of the energetics associated with noncovalent interactions;
6) Role of noncovalent interactions in design of receptor antagonists/agonists
and enzyme substrates/inhibitors
-
Condensation and Hydrolysis Reactions: 1) Understanding of electronegativity
and Coulomb’s Law; 2) Prediction of partially charged atoms within molecules
or ions; 3) Mechanism of condensation for joining two organic or biochemical
molecules (peptides, acid + alcohol, carbohydrate ring closure and polymerization,
triglyercide and phospholipid formation, or nucleotide polymerization);
4) Mechanism of hydrolysis reactions and product formation prediction;
5) Energetics associated with condensation and hydrolysis reactions
-
Acid-Base Chemistry: 1) Understanding of most concentrated forms present
at given pH’s (e.g. amino acids, phosphates, amines); 2) Calculation of
relative amounts of acidic/basic forms present at various pH’s; 3) Hydrophilic
and lipophilic forms as a function of pH; 4) Lewis acids and bases in complex
ions (e.g. zinc fingers, hemoglobin)
-
Themodynamics: 1) Calculation of entropy, enthalpy, and free energy changes
at various temperatures; 2) Prediction of spontaneity; 3) Determination
of heat gained or lost for a given reaction; 4) Calculation and understanding
of equilibrium constants; 5) Second Law implications for energy produced
from combustion (heat) sources; 6) Relationship among thermodynamics, kinetics,
and equilibria
Electrochemistry: 1) Relationship between free energy change and electric
potential; 2) Calculation of potential gradient and polarity needed to
maintain concentration gradient; 3) Use of inorganic or biochemical reduction
potentials to determine reaction potential, free energy changes, and equilibria
constants; 4) Calculation of reaction potentials for nonstandard concentrations
(Nernst equation); 5) Understanding of reaction potential and spontaneity;
6) Thermodynamic efficiency advantages of electrochemical work vs work
from combustion (heat) sour