Spring 2016, Spring 2018 Course Description: Chem157 Polymer synthesis is a new senior level course for undergraduate and graduate students desiring training in polymer chemistry. This course covers a broad spectrum of polymer synthesis methods, reaction mechanism and characterization methods. Students will actively participate in the learning process, which involves oral presentation, retrosynthesis practice and research proposal development. Books: Synthesis of Polymers: New Structures and Methods, by A. Dieter Schluter, Craig J. Hawker and Junji Sakamoto Educational Objectives:
Extend the fundamental knowledge from organic synthesis to polymer synthesis
Evaluate common products to recognize polymer components and identify their purpose
Manage different polymer reaction mechanisms
Analyze polymers using different characterization techniques
Enhance skills for scientific presentations through practice and feedback
Retrosynthetic analysis of polymer structures
Develop new polymer synthetic route for desired properties and applications