Chemistry for Biologists 1

This first teaching unit is devoted to the basic concepts of chemistry that are essential for understanding organic and inorganic chemistry, particularly in systems of biological interest. Students will work on course materials (written and audio) ahead of certain lectures and tutorials, enabling them to fully participate in the face-to-face lectures and tutorials, understand the concepts presented, and acquire the necessary skills. All the concepts presented in this course are essential for understanding chemistry and biology courses.

This course unit aims to provide essential knowledge and skills in chemistry and biochemistry in the following areas:

• Microscopic description of the structure of matter.

 

• Bonds and interactions in a chemical compound.

 

• Chemical reactions in water

 

• Oxidation-reduction reactions

 

• Acid-base reactions according to Brönsted and Lowry

 

• Precipitation reactions

• International System Units, conversion between units
• Concept of mole

• The atom: chemical symbol, composition of an atom, isotope, atomic mass
• Molecule, Ions
• Definition Molecule, molecular ion
• Raw formula
• Representations of a molecule: structural, semi-structural, and topological formulas
• Isomer: definition, chemical and physical properties
• Molecular mass
• Concept of solvent, solute
• General information on chemical reactions
• Balancing a chemical equation
• Total reaction, balanced reaction
• Stoichiometry and reaction progress
• Progress chart, concept of excess and deficient compounds
• Reaction speed: fast/slow reaction
• Concept of catalyst
• Main functions of organic chemistry

For students who have not acquired these concepts in high school, course materials, accompanied by videos and practical exercises, will be provided. All these concepts will be assumed to have been acquired and will be assessed.

Recommended prerequisites: High school physics and chemistry courses

Assessment: Continuous assessment

1. Microscopic description of the structure of matter.

Quantum description of the atom: quantization of energy levels (basic concept of spectroscopy), wave nature of matter (concept of atomic orbitals), polyelectronic atoms, electronic configuration.

Periodic classification of elements: Concept of element families, evolution of atomic properties in the periodic table, in particular their ionization energy, electronegativity, radius, and ions. We will focus in particular on the metals and non-metals most commonly found in biology.

1. Chemical bond.

Different types of interaction in chemistry: Strong bonds (ionic, metallic, covalent) and weak bonds (van der Waals, hydrogen bonding). When studying ionic compounds, we will discuss the concept of salt and its solubility in water. We will focus in particular on salts involving non-metals and alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as common ions (NO3 ^-, SO4 ^2-,_PO4 ^3-, NH4 ⁺)Electronic structure and geometry of molecules involving non-metals: Lewis model of covalence. Concept of oxidation state, VSEPR model.

1. Chemical reaction in water

This section will consolidate concepts related to chemical reactions through reactions in aqueous solution already covered in high school, which are essential for the rest of the course, particularly for those who will not be taking other general chemistry courses in S2. These concepts may be covered in tutorials. The law of mass action will be accepted, allowing students to write the expression of a chemical equilibrium constant.

Oxidation-reduction reaction

Definition of a couple

Redox half-equations and oxidation-reduction reactions in acidic and basic environments

NB: The concept of standard redox potential will be introduced, but without justification through the study of batteries. Couples involving organic or biochemical compounds will be considered.

 

The followingtopics will not be covered in this course: batteries, the physical meaning of a redox couple potential, and Nernst's equation.

Brönsted-Lowry acid-base concepts

Definition of an acid, a weak or strong base. We will take examples that are particularly important in biology (carboxylic acids, amines, amino acids, phosphoric acid, etc.).

Equilibrium constant (accepted without proof) andpKscale _a

Predominant zone based on pH

Acid-base reaction

The concept of a buffer zone (this concept can be introduced through an exercise as an introduction to this important concept in biology).

Not covered in this course: dosage curves

Precipitation reaction

Definition, equilibrium constant, precipitation zone

 

 

 

Hourly volumes:

            CM: 16.5

            TD: 19.5

            TP:

            Land:

Recommended reading:

Reference 1: Chemistry: molecules, matter, and transformations. P. Atkins and L. Jones, DeBoeck Université publisher, 1998.

Reference 2: Chemistry. Stéphane Perrio, Béatrice Roy, and Jean-Yves Winum, published by Dunod, 2017 

Reference 3: Visual Memo on General Chemistry. Collection: Tout en fiches. Isabelle Bonnamour, Jean-Sébastien Filhol, Frédéric Lemoigno, Nathalie Perol, Jean-Yves Winum, publisher Dunod, 2019.

Reference 4: Chemistry L1 - I make mistakes, therefore I learn! Stéphane Perrio, Béatrice Roy, and Jean-Yves Winum, Dunod 2020.