Environmental Organic Chemistry

An examination of processes that affect the behavior and fate of anthropogenic organic contaminants in aquatic environments. Students learn to predict chemical properties that are influencing the transfers between hydrophobic organic chemicals, air, water, sediments and biota. This knowledge will be based on a fundamental understanding of intermolecular interactions and thermodynamic principles. Mechanisms of important thermochemical, photochemical, and biochemical transformation reactions are also investigated, leading to the development of techniques (such as structure-reactivity relationships) for assessing environmental fate or human exposure potential.

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