Using Heterocyclic Chemistry as an End-of-the-Year Review Tool in First-Year Organic Chemistry

Presenting a short lecture package that introduces heterocyclic chemistry at the end of the first-year organic chemistry course allows the instructor to include this often casually mentioned or ignored topic in the context of a course review prior to the final exam. Three 50-minute lectures review concepts such as resonance, aromaticity, NMR interpretation, electrophilic aromatic substitution, nucleophilic aromatic substitution, organometallic chemistry, and the structure of biomolecules. Students enjoy reviewing course concepts in the context of molecules that form the basic units for many important biomolecules.