You are not currently logged in. Please create an account or log in to view the full course.
- Description
About this Course
About the Course
In this course Dr Danny Allwood (Sheffield Hallam University) about a unique type of organic molecule: aromatic compounds. There are countless examples of aromatic compounds used in medicine, biotechnology, dyes, explosives and many other areas where chemicals are used. Therefore, understanding what aromaticity is and how it can affect a chemical reaction is extremely important. We begin by (i) looking at benzene, which for a long time had a known chemical formula (C6H6) but an unknown structure; (ii) focusing on Kekulé’s structure and discussing the problems with this theory; (iii) then moving on to look at how benzene exists in nature, and how this enables its aromaticity; (iv) then using this knowledge, understanding how molecules of benzene react, compared with known reactions of substitution; (v) and finally looking at how the addition of functional groups affects the reactivity of specific positions.
About the Lecturer
Dr Danny Allwood joined Sheffield Hallam University from the University of Cambridge, where he undertook a PhD (2008-2012) and post-doctoral research (2012-2015) with Professor Steven V. Ley CBE FRS. Prior to this, he attained my undergraduate degree at the University of Warwick (2004-2008). His current research programme is focused on the development of practical synthetic and catalytic organic transformations.