1. Knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course the student must have acquired the typical methods of physical organic chemistry for the study of reaction mechanisms and must have reached a deep understanding of the reaction mechanisms and deepened the knowledge
of important classes of organic reactions.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course the student must have acquired the ability to design experiments for the
study of the mechanism of organic reactions and should be able to critically discuss the results obtained.
3. Making judgments: at the end of the course the student must be able to work independently in the application of experimental methodologies
aimed at studying the reaction mechanisms and be able to critically analyze the results obtained from the experiments or reported in the literature.
4. Communication skills: at the end of the course the student must be able to clearly explain the concepts acquired during the course using a
formally correct language.
5. Learning skills: at the end of the course the student must be able to independently deepen the topics covered in the course, including through
the consultation of specialized texts, specific bibliography and chemical databases.

Organic Chemistry 1, 2 and 3 (first level degree in Chemistry).

Chemical reactivity: transition state theory and Hammond postulate, reaction maps.
Kinetic: 1° and 2° order reactions, reversible, parallel and consecutive reactions. Reactive intermediates and steady-state approximation.
Non-kinetic methods for mechanistic investigation: isolation or identification of intermediates; isotopes labelling, stereochemistry.
Isotope effects upon chemical reaction (KIE).
The Hammet and Taft equation.
Nucleophilic substitution at saturated carbon: SN1 and SN2 limiting mechanisms, stereoelectronic effects. Salt and common ion effects, ion pairs and their kinetic implications; stability of carbenium ions.
Solvent effects, Winstein-Grunwald equation.
Nucleophilicity and leaving group effect.
Vinylic nucleophilic substitutions.

H. Maskill, Structure and Reactivity in Organic Chemistry. Oxford Science Publications.
F. A. Carey, R. J. Sundberg, Advanced Organic Chemistry. I. Fleming, Frontier Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions, Wiley.
Didactic material given during the course.

Chemical reactivity: temperature dependence of reaction rate. Rate constant. Transition state theory. Hammond postulate. Molecular structure and chemical reactivity: Reaction maps.
Kinetic methods for mechanistic investigation: 1° and 2° order reactions. Reversible reactions. Parallel reactions: kinetic and thermodynamic control. Consecutive reactions. Pre-equilibrium. Reactive intermediates and steady-state approximation. Curtin-Hammet principle.
Non-kinetic methods for mechanistic investigation: isolation of intermediates. Spectroscopic identification of intermediates. Isotopes labelling. Stereochemical tools.
Isotope effects upon chemical reaction (KIE): the vibrational origin of KIE. Primary, secondary and solvent KIEs.
The Hammet equation. The Taft equation. Steric and electronic effects of substituents.
Nucleophilic substitution at saturated carbon: SN1 and SN2 limiting mechanisms, stereoelectronic effects. Salt and common ion effects, ion
pairs and their kinetic implications; stability of carbenium ions. Solvent effects, Winstein-Grunwald equation. Nucleophilicity and leaving group
effect. Vinylic nucleophilic substitutions.

Classroom lectures with exercises.

On the MOODLE platform is available some tabellar material.

The final exam consists in an oral test on the topics of the course with discussion of both the theoretical part and applications to examples of
organic reactions. During the oral examination the student must demonstrate that he has acquired the basic concepts of physical organic
chemistry and that he is able to apply the different methodologies acquired in the course to the study of reaction mechanisms by critically
discussing the information obtained from the different techniques.