The University of Western Australia
 

Unit Information Management System (Life and Physical Sciences / Natural and Agricultural Sciences)

Biological and Medicinal Chemistry (CHEM2221, SEM-1, 2009, Crawley)




Faculty of Life & Physical Sciences


Biomedical, Biomolecular & Chemical Sciences




Unit Outline




Biological and Medicinal Chemistry


CHEM2221


SEM-1, 2009


Campus: Crawley


Unit Coordinator: Professor Sue Berners-Price


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Copying of this material by students, except for fair dealing purposes under the Copyright Act, is prohibited. For the purposes of this fair dealing exception, students should be aware that the rule allowing copying, for fair dealing purposes, of 10% of the work, or one chapter/article, applies to the original work from which the excerpt in this course material was taken, and not to the course material itself

© The University of Western Australia 2001

Unit Details

Unit title Biological and Medicinal Chemistry
Unit code CHEM2221 Credit points 6
Availability SEM-1, 2009 (23/02/2009 - 20/06/2009)
Location Crawley Mode on-campus

Contact Details

Faculty Faculty of Life & Physical Sciences
School Biomedical, Biomolecular & Chemical Sciences
School website http://www.biomedchem.uwa.edu.au/
Unit co-ordinator Professor Sue Berners-Price
Consultation Hours Contact by email to arrange an appointment
Lecturers
NamePositionEmailTelephone Number
Emilio GhisalbertiA/PROFelg@cyllene.uea.edu.aux3174
Sue Berners-PricePROFsbp@cyllene.uwa.edu.aux3258
Tutors
Unit Contact hours

lectures: 2 hrs per week (26 in total); labs: 6 hrs per week (for 6 weeks)
Online handbook http://units.handbooks.uwa.edu.au/units/CHEM/CHEM2221
Unit website All enrolled students have access to the unit WebCT site. This site will be used for notices, posting of supplementary course materials http://webct.uwa.edu.au/webct/entryPageIns.dowebct

Unit Rules

Prerequisites
Corequisites CHEM2210 Structure Determination and Physical Chemistry
Advisable prior study
Incompatibility
Approved quota

Unit Description

Description

This unit covers both inorganic and organic chemistry relevant to biological systems. Topics include the chemistry of biomolecules, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and oligonucleotides, addressing their stereochemistry, structure, synthesis, biosynthesis and importance in living systems, as well as an introduction to the role of metal ions in biology, with an emphasis on the fundamental transition metal chemistry relevant to the mechanisms of metalloenzymes and metal-based drugs.

 

 

Lecture Topics

 

Part A: Biological Inorganic Chemistry

1

Introduction.  The essential elements.  Functions of inorganic elements in biological systems.  Examples of metal binding sites in biological systems.

2

Coordination Chemistry.  Transition metal complexes.  Types of ligands.  Stereochemistry

3

Bonding in transition metal complexes: Crystal field theory, Ligand field theory. Ligand field stabilisation energy and Pairing energy

4

Spectral and magnetic properties of transition metal complexes.  Magnetic moment.

5

Ligand Field Theory: s-bonding and p-bonding. The spectrochemical series.

6

Consideration of the thermodynamic stability of metal bindings sites: formation constants; Irving-Williams series, theory of Hard and Soft Acids and Bases; chelate effect.  Chelation therapy

7

Kinetics of ligand substitution reactions important in biology:  roles of Na+ and K+; Ca2+ as a trigger of rapid events; biological activity of metal-based drugs.

8

Specific examples of metalloenzymes. Carbonic anhydrase - a Zn metalloenzyme. Electron transfer proteins in photosynthesis - plastocyanin, cytochromes and iron-sulfur proteins. Metalloproteins involved in the transport and activation of O2: haemoglobin, myoglobin and cytochrome P450.

 

Part B: Biological Organic Chemistry

1

Carbohydrates: Photosynthesis.  Monosaccharides; aldoses and ketoses (uloses).  Stereochemistry; configuration, Fischer projection formulae, D/L sugars.  Aldotetroses, aldopentoses and aldohexoses.  Cyclic forms; pyranose, furanose, conformation, anomers, mutarotation.  Typical reactions of monosaccharides.  Glycosides; synthesis and biosynthesis.  Metabolism of glucose.  Disaccharides; lactose, sucrose, cellobiose, maltose.  Polysaccharides, cellulose, starch, glycogen, chitin, blood-group substances.  Methods of determination of structure.  Cyclodextrins.  Carbohydrates as chiral starting materials for the synthesis of other bioactive compounds.  Vitamin C, ribose and deoxyribose.

2

Amino acids and proteins: Amino acids, structure, classification and properties.  Chemical synthesis, resolution, separation, enzymatic synthesis, biosynthesis.  Peptides, peptide bonds, Primary structure (Edman and enzymatic methods).  Strategies in peptide synthesis.  Secondary structure.

3

Nucleic Acids:  Heterocyclic aromatic compounds.  Purine and pyrimidine bases, nucleosides, nucleotides, ATP, RNA, DNA (1o and 2o structure).  Factors that affect hydrogen bonding. Approaches to the synthesis of nucleosides and nucleotides.  Antiviral nucleosides.

Learning outcomes

OutcomesAssessment Activity
Students will be able to recall and integrate key knowledge and concepts about:
1. Inorganic chemistry relevant to biological systemsLab Reports/Quizzes/Final Exam
2. Basic facts, principles and theories of organic chemistry.Lab Reports/Quizzes/Final Exam
3. Problems at the biology/chemistry interfaceLab Reports/Quizzes/Final Exam
4. Chemical terminology, nomenclature and conventions associated with each group of compoundsLab Reports/Quizzes/Final Exam
5. Functional groups, their reactivity and interconversionLab Reports/Quizzes/Final Exam
6. Structure, reactivity and role of key biomolecules.Lab Reports/Quizzes/Final Exam
Students will acquire skills in:
7. Performing standard laboratory procedures for simple synthetic organic inorganic and analytical chemistryLab Reports
8. Use of instrumentation and interpretation of spectroscopic data for structure determination of inorganic and organic compoundsLab Reports
9. Retrieving information from a variety of sources, including libraries, databases and the wwwLab Reports/Quizzes/Final Exam
10. Students will clearly communicate in writing the results of laboratory work and reading using correct scientific styleLab reports
11. Students will present scientific material and arguments clearly, logically and correctly, in writing Lab Reports/Final Exam

Unit Structure

 Lectures

 Two or three 1-hour lectures per week (Total 26 Lectures). 

 Practical and/or laboratory sessions

 Two 3 hour laboratory classes per week for six weeks. Attendance is compulsory

(See Timetable)

Unit Schedule

Teaching and Learning Responsibilities

Teaching and learning strategies

Charter of student rights and responsibilities

The University's charter of student rights is available at http://www.secretariat.uwa.edu.au/home/policies/charter

Student Guild contact details

Contact details for the University Student Guild can be found at http://www.guild.uwa.edu.au

Uses of student feedback

ACE/IRIS

All newly enrolled students (at any level) are rquired to complete the Academic Conduct Essentila (ACE) and the Introducory Research and Information Skills (IRIS-SCIE1130. More information on both these requirements can be found at http://www.ace.uwa.edu.au  and http://units.handbooks.uwa.edu.au/units/scie/scie1130 . Both ACE and IRIS are completed online through your WebCT page (http://webct.uwa.edu.au ).

PLEASE NOTE:  IRIS in not a requirement for students enrolled in PSB Singapore. 

 

Assessment

Assessment overview

This comprises an examination (50 per cent), laboratory work (30 per cent) and assignments/continuous assessment (20 per cent).

Supplementary assessment is not available in this unit except in the case of a bachelor's pass degree student who has obtained a mark of 45 to 49 and is currently enrolled in this unit, and it is the only remaining unit that the student must pass in order to complete their course.

Assessment mechanism

ComponentWeightDue DateRelates To Outcomes
Laboratory reports30%Usually due within 1-2 weeks of completing each set of experiments1-11
Quizzes20%2 Quizzes in lecture slots, 27 March, 8 May1-6, 9,11
Final exam - 2hr exam. 50%End of semester exam period1-6, 9,11

Assessment items

Item TitleDescription
Laboratory Reports Write up laboratory reports in a required format described in the lab manual. Marking Criteria-You will be assessed on the content and the structure of the report and the quality of the submitted samples. Submission details-The deadline for submission of the reports for the inorganic and organic sections will be advised in labs. See http://www.science.uwa.edu.au for penalties for late submission.
QuizzesTwo compulsory quizzes in lecture slots assessing material presented in the first 9 lectures of the inorganic and organic components
Final examA 2 h theory exam assessing all aspects of the material covered in the unit, including the laboratory experiments

Academic literacy and academic misconduct

The University of Western Australia takes very seriously the matter of academic misconduct by students and has policies in place that define misconduct (including plagiarism) and the penalties that apply.  The consequences for misconduct can be severe, including exclusion from the University.

All students are expected to make themselves aware of the definitions and the policies relating to academic misconduct, found at the websites below, and with any additional requirements or stipulations that may be provided by individual coordinators. 

http://www.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/22173/Student_Misconduct_Info.pdf

http://www.teachingandlearning.uwa.edu.au/tl4/for_uwa_staff/policies/student_related_policies/academic_conduct

Appeals against academic assessment

The full regulations governing appeals procedures are available in the University Handbook. available on-line at http://handbooks.uwa.edu.au/undergraduate/poliproc/StudentProcedures/AssessmentandExamination/Assessment/Appeals

Textbooks and Resources

Recommended Texts

 

Part A: Biological Inorganic Chemistry

“Inorganic Chemistry”, Shriver, and Atkins, 4th edition. Chapters 8, 19, 20 and 26)
 (“Inorganic Chemistry”, Shriver, and Atkins, 3rd edition. Chapters 7, 13 and 19)
“Biocoordination Chemistry”, D.E. Fenton, Oxford University Press (1995).

 Part B: Biological Organic Chemistry

 “Organic Chemistry”, J. Clayden, N. Greeves, S. Warren and P. Wothers. Oxford University Press 2001.

 

Suggested Alternate Texts

Additional Texts

 "Principles of Bioinorganic Chemistry", S.J. Lippard and J.M. Berg, Univ. Science Books 1994

 

Technical Requirements

 Safety in Laboratory: Lab Coats and Safety Glasses must be worn in the laboratory at all times.  General instructions on laboratory safety are provided in the laboratory notes.

 Laboratory Notebook:

You must record everything during laboratory classes in a dedicated Notebook. The notebook must have a hard cover, with pages that are properly bound (a Science Exercise Book with graph paper/ruled pages interleaved is very suitable).

 Calculator: You should have a pocket calculator available for use in the laboratory

Software Requirements

Additional Resources and Reading

Other Important Information



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University information

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Last modified:
Wednesday, 9 September 2009 12:16 PM