ORGANIC CHEMISTRY is the basic background course for understanding the structure and reactions of organic compounds.
The course material aims to introduce students to the basic modes of operation of the characteristic groups of organic molecules with their environment, which is a prerequisite for understanding their physical and chemical behaviour in food and human nutrition. Understanding the mechanism of a general reaction as well as its stereochemical route leads to the understanding and interpretation of the products obtained.
It also refers to concepts and methodologies related to the classification of chemical reactions, the importance of stereochemistry and optical activity of organic compounds and the need to know the basic spectroscopic techniques for structure identification.
The aim of the course is for the students to understand the structure, physical properties, and characteristic chemical reactions of molecules of the most basic homologous series and stereochemistry – activity relation.

Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to:

• Describe the molecular structure of basic organic molecules, and correlate structural differences with their chemical activity and biochemical behaviour
• Indicate the products of basic organic reactions found in the metabolic pathways of food ingredients
• Identify the factors that affect the stability of organic molecules and predict their conversions depending on the chemical environment.
• Know the basic spectroscopic techniques applied for the analysis and characterization of organic compounds