What Students Should Know Before They Take Biochemistry

FROM FIRST YEAR BIOLOGY
Know names and functions of cellular organelles.
Know functions and recognize the structures of proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids.
Know the function of each of the following:

FROM GENERAL CHEMISTRY
Be able to indicate all potential hydrogen bonds for a molecule.
Be able to indicate the 3-dimensional geometry of small molecules.
Be able to use equilibrium constants to describe chemical systems.
Be able to use ΔH and ΔG to describe a chemical reaction.
Be able to identify conjugate acid-base pairs in a chemical reaction.
Be able to use Ka and pKa to describe an acid-base reaction.
Understand each of the following terms:

buffer	bond	emf, electromotive force
van der Waals forces	s orbital	Bronstead-Lowry Acid/Base
van der Waals radii	p orbital	Lewis Acid/Base
double bond	oxidation	, , and emissions
triple bond	reduction
bond	electrode potential

FROM ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Be able to determine if a structure is aromatic or aliphatic.
Be able to determine the hybridization of C or N in an organic molecule.
Be able to identify chiral centers in molecules.
Be able to determine the three dimensional geometry at any C or N in an organic molecule.
Be able to interpret NMR spectra for simple molecules (with a chemical shift table).
Be able to draw the Lewis Structure for each of the following:

acetic acid	-D-glucose	phenol
acetate anion	-D-glucose	phosphoric acid
acetic anhydride	glycerol	dihydrogen phosphate anion
alanine	guanidine	phosphate anion
benzene	guanidinium cation	pyridine
formaldehyde	imidazole	-D-ribose
formic acid	imidazolium cation	2’-deoxy--D-ribose
methyl acetamide	oxalic acid	stearic acid, a C18 fatty acid
isopropanol	oxalate anion	trimethylamine
isobutanol		trimethylamminium cation
sec-butanol		urea

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