OVERVIEW

This module of Biochemistry is aimed to provide basic concepts about the molecular structure and the chemical properties of ions and molecules of medical interest. Starting from the properties of gas and aqueous solutions, the course analyzes the characteristics of acids, bases and buffers, the kinetics and the equilibria of different chemical processes, the main thermodinamics parameters, the structure and the chemical reactivity of organic molecules belonging to different classes.  

AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Attendance and participation in the planned educational activities (lectures and exercises in small groups) will allow the student to acquire confidence with the representation and the expected chemical reactivity of inorganic and organic compounds of medical interest. Starting from the strong or weak interactions that can occur between ions or between different types of molecules, the course considers the properties of aqueos solutions of these compunds, the calculation and of the pH of specific solutions containing acids, bases,salts and buffers, the basis of redox reactions, the reactivity of different functional chemical groups, the traditional and scientific nomenclature of organic molecules, the stereochemistry of asymmetric molecules, the peculiar properties of aromatic compounds and the three-dimensional organization of monomeric and polymeric structures belonging to carbohydrate, lipid, protein and nucleotide classes. Each topics is shaped to fulfill the peculiar needs of  knowledge required to understand how the alteration of the composition of an aqueos solution or changes in the molecular structure of organic compunds that are involved in intracellular phenomena can interfere with biochemical and physiological mechanisms. Hence this class is preparatory to facilitate the understanding of various subsequent branches of knowledge characteristic of this academic course for physicians. 

TEACHING METHODS

Teaching is performed by classroom-taught lessons with the aid of slides and through the constant use of the "visual presenter" for the writing of molecular structures and reactions. 
The teaching is held through lessons  in the classroom with the support of projected images . The material is made available to students in Aulaweb at the end of each lesson.To complete the morning lessons, the students, divided into four groups of about 60 students each, carry out numerical exercises and chemical reactions together with the teachers to self-assess their degree of basic knowledge and practical resolution of the problems posed. These exercises enable the student to solve the problems they will find in the written test of the final exam. 

Due to the Covid-19 health emergency, during the first semester of the Academic Year 2020-2021 both the frontal lessons and the exercises will be carried out remotely using the Office 365 Teams Platform.
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SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Aqueous solutions and gas. Quantification of the concentration of solutions, colligative properties. Kynetics, thermodynamics, equilibria, Kc, Q, Kps,Kw, pH. Strong and weaks acids and bases, buffers. Hybridization of the carbon atom in different organic compounds. Hydrocarbons (alkanes and alkenes), chirality, resonance, combustion, redox potential,  redox reactions. Alchols, thiols, properties of the carbonylic group, tautomery. Carboxylic acids, esters, anhydrides, amines, amides. Polifunctional molecules, hydroxyl and ketoacids, amino acids and peptides, post-translational modifications of amino acids inthe proteins. Monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides. Lipids: fatty acids, triacylglycerols, glycerolipids and sphingolipids, cholesterol. Omo ed eterocyclic aromatic compounds. Purine and pyrimidine bases, nucleosides, nucleotides, polynucleotides. Coenzymes of oxidoreduttases (NAD, NADP, FAD).

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

All slides used during the lessons and other educational material will be available on AulaWeb at the end of each cycle of lectures / laboratory exercises along with other bibliographic material in pdf format.

The books indicated are suggested as a supporting text and are available and can be consulted together with other books for further information by the teacher.

Texts advised for further information:                                                                                                                                              Brady, Holum-Fondamenti di Chimica-Ed. Zanichelli
Brown, Poon-Introduzione alla Chimica Organica con modelli molecolari-EDISES
Bettelheim, Brown, Campbell, Farrel-Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica-EDISES

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

SANTINA BRUZZONE (President)

GIANLUCA DAMONTE (President)

MIRKO BENVENUTI

MICHELA TONETTI

ELENA ZOCCHI (President and Coordinator of Integrated Course)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

October 29th 2019.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Each academic year the students have the possibility to attend seven sessions of a final written exam that lasts 1h and 45 min. This type of exam considers separately the skills acquired in inorganic chemistry on one hand and in organic chemistry/biomolecules. Specifically, the students have to solve problems of general chemistry, such as calculation of the pH, of the Kps or of the solubility product of a given solution, the equilibrium constant of a reversible chemical reaction, representation of the structure of the expected organic products obtained starting from reagents containing different functional groups and depiction of possible molecular structures that correspond to a specific traditional or scientific name of organic molecules.The maximal value attributed to each of the proposed exercises is stated to allow the students to assess if the problems that they have carried out are sufficient to pass the exam for both parts (general chemistry and organic chemistry/biomolecules). Moreover, the students that have not reached the minimal score of chemistry in the test for the access to the Course of Medicine and Surgery, need to pass a preliminary test based on multiple choice quiz before to be admitted to the final exam. The student can access the exam of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry if she/he has passed the exam of Chemistry and Propedeutical Biochemistry.

If the restrictions due to the Covid-19 health emergency relating to the exams in presence persist, the exam will be carried out in the following ways. The part of the exam relating to general chemistry will be carried out online using the AulaWeb platform: the student will be asked to do 6 exercises in 30 minutes and the assessment will be in fifteenths.
If the student passes this part of the exam with a score of at least 9/15, he will have access to the oral exam which may concern organic reactions, writing of biomolecules as well as general chemistry exercises. The oral part of the exam is carried out remotely through Office365-Teams.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Details on how to prepare for the exam and the degree of detail required for each topic will be provided at the beginning of the course and confirmed during lectures and exercises. The exam is written. To avoid that the students crib the exam answers from other students, the teachers propose different versions of the exam. After the revision of the exercises, the students can discuss with the teachers their mistakes and the relevant judgment obtained. This method limits the possibility that a student pass the exam with a swindle and help them to clarify their mistakes with a better chance to get ready in a further session. The rules for taking the exam and the minimum scores that must be obtained for each part that constitutes the written test (general chemistry, organic chemistry, biomolecules) for passing the written test are exposed by the teachers at the beginning of the course and are reported in an informative pdf file present in AulaWeb. Moreover the teachers are available to follow personally the students that encounter more  difficulties in the study of specific topics of this course.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Attendance at lectures and exercises is mandatory