Chemistry

Topics include energy, enthalpy, work and entropy; laws of thermodynamics and their applications; rates of reaction: their quantitative dependence on concentration and temperature; and the steady-state approximation and chemical mechanisms.

The course begins with a review of the scientific background needed to understand the role that chemistry has played in technological progress so far and to answer the question: can chemistry help in achieving sustainability goals, and how?
The course approaches sustainability from a chemistry perspective, starting by introducing the 12 principles of green chemistry and giving examples of their applications in real life. Green chemistry metrics, such as atom economy and environmental factors, to be able to measure and compare aspects of chemical processes in terms of sustainability are reviewed. An overview of the principles of catalysis and different types of catalysts, with an eye on real industrial processes and sustainable chemistry is provided. New processes to help close the carbon cycle and reduce our environmental impact such as hydrogen production, biomass utilization, plastic waste recycling, and reduced use of solvents are discussed. In project groups of 2-3 students, an established industrial chemical process with an emerging, more sustainable route, and deliver a report focused on the green chemical aspects of the process are compared. 

The Individual Research Training Senior (IRT Senior) Course is an advanced course of the Individual Research Training A (IRT A) course in the Tohoku University Junior Year Program in English (JYPE) in the fall semester. Though short-term international exchange students are not degree candidates at Tohoku University, a similar experience is offered by special arrangement. Students are required to submit: an abstract concerning the results of their IRT Senior project, a paper (A4, 20-30 pages) on their research at the end of the exchange term, and an oral presentation on the results of their IRT Senior project near the end of the term.

The objectives of this course are to: 

• Understand perfect gas law, kinetic theory and the first law of thermodynamics.

• Understand the 2nd and 3rd law of thermodynamics and phase transition.

• Understand simple mixtures and chemical reactions based on thermodynamics. 

The objective of this course is to provide students with an overview of the role of chemistry in nanosciences. The course introduces some basic knowledge related to this field, and surveys the unique properties of nanoparticles and their applications, which includes bioconjugation methods, solution-based probes/sensors, in vitro and in vivo imaging, and nanoparticle therapeutics.  

Students should be able to 1) understand the general methods for fabricating nanomaterials; 2) understand the physical properties of nanomaterials; 3) apply the unique properties of some nanomaterials to create specific probes. Typical topics include supramolecular chemistry, basic photophysics, syntheses of nanoparticles, luminescent quantum dots, gold and silver nanoparticles, other inorganic nanoparticles, organic nanoparticles, bioconjugate chemistry, bioimaging, drug delivery and toxicity of nanoparticles. 

Due to the constantly increasing computational power and the rise of density functional theory (DFT) and artificial intelligence (AI), computational approaches to chemistry are booming. We are now able to simulate almost every chemical process at multiple times and size scales and discuss macroscopic thermodynamic and kinetic trends from a quantum chemical perspective. This course enters this exciting field by first introducing computational chemistry, then learning about DFT and how to use it to calculate reaction energies, MO diagrams, kinetic barriers, etc., run molecular dynamics simulations, and basic machine learning. 

Recommended Prerequisite: The lecture requires basic physical chemistry and mathematics lecture background. Quantum chemistry background will make things easier to understand, but it is not a prerequisite. The course teaches programming and revisits quantum chemistry. 

The course covers in depth the chemistry of three major classes of biologically important molecules; carbohydrates, peptides and proteins, and nucleic acids. In addition, the course provides an introduction to molecular imaging and covers methods for labelling of biomolecules with fluorescent dyes and radionuclides.

This course covers the care and maintenance of clothing. Topics include the principle of adhesion of contaminants and textile fibers; critical factors in removing contaminants (surfactants, mechanical removal, solvent, chemical degradation, etc.); care and maintenance of protective textiles; and environmental impact during the clothing maintenance process.