Chemistry plays a key role in any technological or scientific discipline, as it is condensed in the name it sometimes receives as "the Central Science". Chemistry aims to understand the properties of matter and the changes it experiences. Within it, Organic Chemistry, dealing with those compounds mostly based on carbon, is key to many aspects of our daily life. The main building blocks of live matter (proteins, sugars, lipids, nucleic acids, enzimes...) as well as many substances that are part of our world (drugs, pesticides, soaps, textiles, fuels...) are organic molecules. For this reason, it is a discipline well connected to Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Physiology, Pharmacology, etc. and its knowledge is very relevant in a large number of technological areas as Animal or Vegetable Production, Material Engineering, Food Science, among others
The Organic Chemistry subject in the Food Science degree is an instrumental subject that provides the students with the basic tools they will need to follow further studies and work in their profession, tackle the chemical processes that affect foodstuffs and their additives and the derivation reactions and detection methods associated to the main analytical techniques.
It is intended that the students will acquire a basic knowledge of the discipline that will allow them to understand the structure of organic compounds, their properties and reactions. The approach used for that will be based on relating structure with properties, and properties with reactivity, using reaction mechanisms as the guiding line of the class.
Laboratory practices are a fundamental part of the activities of the course, as they provide a good environment for synthesizing the knowledge and competences acquired during the course, and applying them to a context similar to what the students are going to find outside of school.
English Friendly subject: International students may request from the teachers: a) materials and bibliographic references in English, b) tutoring sessions in English, c) exams and assessments in English.
