Medical Chemistry

At the end of the course the student will be able to:
1.know the principles underlying the behaviors of elements and compounds involved in the main biological processes
2.know how to perform simple calculations that illustrate the quantitative aspects underlying the main biological processes
3.recognize the chemical principles that govern the behavior of substances of biomedical interest
4.know the mechanisms of reactions that occur in living organisms
5.know how to carry out practical operations typical of a chemical laboratory by acquiring practice in the main methodologies.

At the end of the course, the student will learn:
- to describe and use in simple calculations the basic quantities and their units of measure used in chemistry (atomic and molecular mass, mole and molar mass).
- to recognize the various types of chemical reactions and balance their stoichiometric coefficients in a rational way.
- to list the various ways in which the concentration of a solution can be expressed, define the solubility and the factors that influence it.
- to understand the concept of balance of a reaction and indicate how determined parameters can modify it.
- to discuss the concept of acids and bases according to the Broensted-Lowry theory.
- to describe the concept of pH of an aqueous solution and to calculate it in the case of both strong and weak acids and bases.
- to describe the methods for the experimental determination of the pH of a solution
- to describe the composition and properties of a buffer solution.
- to know and discuss some basic concepts of electrochemistry, thermodynamics and chemical kinetics.
- to recognize the different functional groups that characterize organic compounds, with particular reference to those present in the structures of compounds of biological interest, such as amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleotides and nucleic acids.