Splash Biography

Most people have taken small-molecule drugs at some point in their lives, whether that’s Advil (ibuprofen) for a headache or Benadryl (diphenhydramine) for allergic reactions. But how are these molecules created, and how do they make you feel better? Why is it that Benadryl makes you sleepy, and Advil shouldn’t be taken on an empty stomach? This course will give you the tools you need to answer these questions and prepare you to tackle organic chemistry head-on. You’ll learn to interpret chemical structures, recognize and manipulate key functional groups, and draw reaction mechanisms. Connections will be made to pharmacologically relevant compounds like antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. We’ll focus on building a general intuition about structure and reactivity (rather than jumping right into the granular details) so don’t worry at all if this is your first time encountering organic chemistry! Hope to see you there :)