Educational offer - University of Padova

Information on the course unit

Degree course	First cycle degree in BIOTECHNOLOGY IF1839, Degree course structure A.Y. 2011/12, A.Y. 2019/20	bring this page with you
Number of ECTS credits allocated	6.0
Type of assessment	Mark
Course unit English denomination	PHYSICAL METHODS IN BIOORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Website of the academic structure	https://biotecnologie.biologia.unipd.it/lt-biotecnologie/
Department of reference	Department of Biology
Mandatory attendance	Sì
Language of instruction	Italian
Branch	PADOVA
Single Course unit	The Course unit can be attended under the option Single Course unit attendance
Optional Course unit	The Course unit can be chosen as Optional Course unit

Syllabus

Prerequisites:	Knowledge and understanding of general organic chemistry and physical chemistry.
Target skills and knowledge:	The course will provide students with the means to interpret spectra obtained with the most common techniques used for structural elucidation of molecules: mass spectrometry (MS), applied to small organic molecules and proteins; infrared (IR) spectroscopy, for organic molecules and proteins; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), applied to small organic molecules and natural substances.
Examination methods:	Written test: multiple choice tests and interpretation of spectra of unknown compounds
Assessment criteria:	The student must demonstrate the ability to interpret MS, IR and NMR spectra and to be able to guess the correct molecular structure from the analysis of the spectra.
Course unit contents:	Lectures: Principles of organic chemistry: functional groups, nomenclature, inductive and resonance effects. General principles about the spectroscopic techniques of structural elucidation. Mass Spectrometry (MS): Ionization methods: electron impact, chemical ionization, MALDI, ESI. Ion separation methods: magnetic, quadrupolar and time-of-flight analyzers. Molecular ion, isotopic ions, metastable ions. Mass spectrometry to study proteins: peptide fingerprinting, peptide sequence tag. Infrared spectroscopy (IR): IR resonances of the principal functional groups of organic chemistry and proteins. Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR): chemical shift and shielding constant. Factors influencing the chemical shift: electronic structure and π electrons. Additivity rules. Coupling constant J. Spin multiplicity and its origin. Geminal, vicinal and long-range coupling. Factors influencing the coupling constant. Chemical shift and coupling in hydrogen atoms bonded to O, N and S atoms. Chemical and magnetic equivalence, enantiotopic and diastereotopic protons. First order and higher order spectra. Dynamic NMR. Couplings with heteroatoms (C-13, F-19, P-31). Decoupling and NOE effect.  Exercise: Problem of interpretation of MS, IR and NMR spectra of unknown compounds Laboratory: Preparation of samples of unknown compounds for MS, IR and NMR spectra. Acquisition and analysis of the spectra. Extraction of natural substances and subsequent identification.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods:	Lectures, exercise, laboratory experiments
Additional notes about suggested reading:	Lecture notes, downloadable from the lecturer web site, suggested text
Textbooks (and optional supplementary readings)	Silverstein, Robert M.; Webster, Francis X.; Pinna, Luigi; Rassu, Gloria; Casiraghi, Giovanni; Zanardi, Franca, Identificazione spettroscopica di composti organiciRobert M. Silverstein, Francis X. Websteredizione italiana a cura di Giovanni Casiraghi, Luigi Pinnahanno collaborato alla traduzione Gloria Rassu, Franca Zanardi. Milano: CEA, 1999.