Chem 10a

Fall Term 2014

Class Syllabus
Instructors

 Grading
Course Description

 Meetings
References


Instructors:

Professor Andre Hoelz

147 Braun
hoelz@caltech.edu

Professor Peter Dervan

351 Crellin
dervan@its.caltech.edu

Teaching Assistants:

Phil Bartels

139 Noyes
pbartels@caltech.edu

Alyson Weidmann

117 Noyes
aweidman@caltech.edu

Course Description:

Chem10a is a weekly seminar introducing the wide range of research currently being performed in the Caltech chemistry department.  Each week, a faculty member of the department will present an area of their current research.  The topics will be addressed at an informal introductory level.  Research papers will be provided each week to acquaint the student with the topics to be presented.  Additionally, there will be laboratory tours of each of the faculty members to acquaint the students with the laboratory techniques and instruments used in the research. 

Meetings:

The classes will be held on Thursdays 12 pm - 1 pm in 147 Noyes. A pizza lunch will be provided.  If there are any dietary restrictions, please inform Phil or Alyson. The second part of the course is a laboratory tour.  The tours will take place on Tuesdays from 4-5 pm, and Wednesdays from 3-4 pm.  Students MUST attend one of these tours each week.

Grading:

Attendance for the lectures and laboratory tours is mandatory.  Additionally, a "Chemtract" will be due December 4, 2014.  This is a short review (1.5-2 pages, single-spaced) of a primary research article (not a review article) published by a faculty member in the Caltech chemistry department.  Your should let us know what specific research article you will be reviewing by November 20, 2014.  You can pick an article by browsing the websites of chemistry faculty members.  The format for the paper should be the same as articles found in the journal Chemtracts. Please see the links below for Chemtract details and examples:

References:

Week 1: Andre Hoelz

  1. Structure of Nup58/45 Suggests Flexible Nuclear Pore Diameter by Intermolecular Sliding (Download pdf)
  2. Structure and Functional Analysis of Human SIRT1 (Download pdf)


Week 2: Jonas Peters

  1. Catalytic Conversion of Nitrogen to Ammonia by an Iron Model Complex (Download pdf)
  2. The Nitrogen Fix (Download pdf)


Week 3: Jack Beauchamp

  1. Probing Interfacial Chemistry of Single Droplets with Field-Induced Droplet Ionization Mass Spectrometry: Physical Adsorption of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Ozonolysis of Oleic Acid and Related Compounds (Download pdf)
  2. Time Resolved Studies of Interfacial Reactions of Ozone with Pulmonary Phospholipid Surfactants Using Field Induced Droplet Ionization Mass Spectrometry (Download pdf)
  3. Fundamental Studies of Environmental Chemistry at Air-Water Interfaces (Download pdf)


Week 4: Dennis Dougherty

  1. The Cation-Pi Interaction (Download pdf)


Week 5: Theo Agapie

  1. A Synthetic Model of the Mn3Ca Subsite of the Oxygen-Evolving Complex in Photosystem II (Download pdf)


Week 6: Thomas Miller

  1. Dynamics and Dissipation in Enzyme Catalysis (Download pdf)
  2. A Simple, Exact Density-Functional-Theory Embedding Scheme (Download pdf)


Week 7: Long Cai

  1. Single-Cell in situ RNA Profiling by Sequential Hybridization (Download pdf)
  2. Turning Single Cells into Microarrays by Super-Resolution Barcoding (Download pdf)


Week 8: Jackie Barton

  1. Label-free electrochemical detection of human methyltransferase from tumors (Download pdf)
  2. DNA-mediated signaling by proteins with 4Fe-4S clusters is necessary for genomic integrity (Download pdf)


Week 9: Thanksgiving (no class)