You can build strength in a specific focus area by directing your Program Electives in Year Two and Year Three towards specific courses, as described below. By doing so, you will be adequately prepared for 400-level courses in those areas. If you are interested in pursuing graduate studies in Chemistry, you should build strength in at least two focus areas.
Inorganic Chemistry
CHEM 310 Transition Element Compounds and Inorganic Materials
CHEM 310L Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory 2
CHEM 313 Main Group and Solid State Chemistry
Analytical Chemistry
CHEM 224L Analytical Chemistry Laboratory 2
CHEM 323 Analytical Instrumentation
Biological Chemistry
CHEM 331 Fundamentals of Metabolism 1
CHEM 357 Physical Biochemistry
Theoretical/Computational/Physical Chemistry
CHEM 209 Introductory Spectroscopy and Structure
CHEM 340L Introductory Computational Chemistry
CHEM 350 Chemical Kinetics
CHEM 350L Physical Chemistry Laboratory 2
Organic Chemistry
CHEM 360 Organic Chemistry 3*
CHEM 360L Senior Organic Chemistry Laboratory*
CHEM 363 Organic Process Chemistry
* Note that CHEM 360 is corequisite for CHEM 360L.
Polymer Chemistry
CHEM 370 Introduction to Polymer Science
Medicinal Chemistry
CHEM 363 Organic Process Chemistry
CHEM 381 Bioorganic Chemistry
CHEM 382L Advanced Organic Synthesis Laboratory
CHEM 383 Medicinal Chemistry
CHEM 481 Biomolecular Modelling: Principles, Practices, and Applications in Drug Design
Other CHEM courses
CHEM 333 Metabolism 1*
CHEM 404 Physicochemical Aspects of Natural Waters
CHEM 432 Metabolism 2
CHEM 433 Advanced Biochemistry
CHEM 464 Spectroscopy in Organic Chemistry
* Note that CHEM 333 and CHEM 331 are antirequisites.
Courses offered by other academic departments
BIOL 354 Environmental Toxicology
BIOL 439 Environmental and Natural Products Biochemistry
EARTH 221 Geochemistry 1
EARTH 421 Geochemistry 2
EARTH 459 Chemical Hydrogeology
NE 333 Macromolecular Science (antireq: CHEM 370)
NE 334 Statistical Thermodynamics (antireq: CHEM 400: Statistical Thermodynamics)
NE 335 Soft Nanomaterials
PHYS 359 Statistical Mechanics (antireq: CHEM 400: Statistical Thermodynamics)
PHYS 490 Machine Learning in the Physical Sciences
Chemistry (CHEM 400) and Biochemistry (CHEM 430) special topics
Since many of the 400-level Special Topics courses are not given on an annual basis, the Department of Chemistry is maintaining a terms of offering table below, in order to aid you in planning your course selections for Years Three and Four of your academic program.
Naturally, any course may be subject to cancellation should there be too few students interested in taking it during the term in which it has been scheduled to be offered.
Fall 2026 (unofficial)
CHEM 400 course titles
Atomic and Molecular Clusters (Course requires CHEM 254 and CHEM 356)
Transitional Metal Catalysis in Organic Chemistry (Course requires CHEM 360)
Modern Physical Organic Chemistry: Experimental and Machine Learning Methods
CHEM 430 course title
Winter 2027 (unofficial)
CHEM 400 course titles
Inorganic Solid State Materials (course requires CHEM 313 or MNS 221)
Chemical Spectroscopy for Biomedical Applications (Formerly: Molecular Sensing, Imaging, Spectroscopy and Nanodiagnostics)
From Miniaturization and Nanoscience/Nanotechnology to Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning in Analytical Chemistry (course requires CHEM 323)
Computational Chemistry in the Age of AI
Polymerizations beyond Radical and Condensation Polymerization
Physical Organic Chemistry (course requires CHEM 360 as a prerequisite or corequisite)
CHEM 430 course title
TBA
Fall 2025
CHEM 400 course titles
From Miniaturization and Nanoscience/Nanotechnology to Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning in Analytical Chemistry (Course requires CHEM 323)
Atomic and Molecular Clusters (Course requires CHEM 254 and CHEM 356)
Synthetic Organic Reactions (Course requires CHEM 265 or 267; CHEM 360 recommended)
CHEM 430 course title
Winter 2026
CHEM 400 course titles
Chemical Spectroscopy for Biomedical Applications
(Formerly: Molecular Sensing, Imaging, Spectroscopy and Nanodiagnostics)
Transitional Metal Catalysis in Organic Chemistry (Course requires CHEM 360)
Computational Chemistry in the Age of AI
Polymerizations beyond Radical and Condensation Polymerization