Associate Professor Tara Pukala

1. demonstrate an advanced understanding of the methods and processes of chemistry as a creative endeavour;

2. demonstrate an understanding of the close relationship between scientific research and the development of new knowledge in a global context;

3. demonstrate that current scientific knowledge is both contestable and testable by further enquiry;

4. apply the concepts and theories of a range of advanced topics in chemistry;

5. analyse, interpret and critically evaluate research findings;

6. present information, articulate arguments and conclusions, in a variety of modes, to audiences in their field of research;

7. comply with regulatory frameworks (including OH&S) and practising professional ethics relevant to the chemistry field;

8. undertake independent research in a chemistry field.

This course is delivered by lectures for each module

A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

The course will cover core fundamental occupational, health and safety requirements specific to chemistry and provide training in chemical and hazard management.

Ø Occupational health and safety / chemical and hazard management training

Students will be trained in fundamental occupational, health and safety requirements specific to chemistry and chemical and hazard management.

- School safety induction (1 hour)

- Chemical management training (1 hour)

- Hazard management training (1 hour)

- Fire Extinguisher training (1 hour)

- RMSS risk assessment with practical (1 hour)

- NMR induction (1 hour)



In addition, the course content includes a selection of three of the following modules:

Ø Advanced Organo-metallic Chemistry

Advanced synthetic methods

- Use of transition metals in synthesis of new materials

- Fundamentals of interactions of transition metals with organic molecules

Stabilisation of reactive intermediates

- Activation of H2, CO, alkenes

- Catalysis

Hydrogenation, Hydroformylation - Wilkinson

Polymerisation

- Reactions of alkenes, alkynes on metal centres

- Metal carbyne and vinylidene complexes - Schrock, Grubbs

Olefin metathesis

- Palladium chemistry - Heck, Negishi

- Gold chemistry

Ø Computational Chemistry

- Electronic structure methods including molecular mechanics, ab initio, perturbation theory and density functional theory

- Using computational chemistry programs (e.g. Gaussian and GaussView) and accessing supercomputers

- The Molecular Hamiltonian

- Atomic units and the Born-Oppenheimer approximation

- The Hartree-fock method and approximations

- Linear combination of atomic orbitals, Slater deteminants, Variational principle Wavefunctions and Basis functions

- Geometry optimisation, stationary states, frequency calculations

Ø Contemporary Chemistry – A Link with the Past

- Role of protein structure in the design of enzyme inhibitors

- Link between DNA structure and anticancer agents

- Human genome project and the structure of DNA

- Cell-cell recognition and the structure of sugars

- Role of stereochemistry on the activity of bioactive agents/metabolites

Ø NMR Spectroscopy

- Basic principles

- Relaxation effects

- Nuclear Overhauser Effect

- Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy

Ø Reactive Intermediates in Organic Synthesis

- Properties of reactive intermediates in organic chemistry and evidence for their existence

- Methods of generating reactive intermediates

- Typical reactions of reactive intermediates

- Use of reactive intermediates in the synthesis of complex molecules

Ø Statistical Mechanics of Liquids

- Statistical description of liquids in terms of the classical partition function

- Correlation functions: radial distribution function, velocity autocorrelation function, mean squared displacement

- van der Waals picture of liquids

- Free energy calculations

- Simulation methods: molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo

Ø Special topic in chemistry
This module is offered by external chemistry experts and the content varies each year depending on availability of external experts (e.g. three-dimensional structure determination, advanced organic synthetic chemistry, etc.).

Assessment Task	Task Type	Percentage of total assessment for grading purposes #		Learning Outcome
Safety management tests	Formative & Summative	Pass/Fail		7
Assignments	Formative & Summative	0% - 100% *		1 – 8
Quiz	Formative & Summative	0% - 10% *		1 – 4
Written Exams	Summative	0% - 100% *		1 – 8

 Safety management tests: (Pass/Fail)

Students will be trained and tested in the following fundamental safety requirements specific to chemistry: chemical management, hazard management, RMMS risk assessments and NMR induction. A short test will be taken at the end of each session to ensure students understand the content covered. An opportunity to repeat the tests will be offered if necessary.

Assignments: (0%-100% of total course grade) *

Depending on the modules selected, assignments constitute 0% to 100% of the total course grade.

Assignments are used during the semester to address understanding of and ability to use the course material and to provide students with a benchmark for their progress in the course.

Quiz: (10%) *

Depending on the modules selected, the quiz constitutes 0% to 10% of the total course grade.

The quiz is used during the semester to address understanding of and ability to use the course material and to provide students with a benchmark for their progress in the course.

Written Examination: (0%-100% of total course grade) *

Depending on the modules selected, written exams constitute 0% to 100% of the total course grade (1 exam per module, up to 3 exams in total). Written exams are used to assess the understanding of an ability to use the material covered in modules during the semester.
* Assessment item weighting depends on modules selected by students.

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply.  A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.