Physical Chemistry for Life Sciences

Catalog description

Physical principles determine the stability of proteins and nucleic acids, the rate at which biochemical reactions proceed, the transport of molecules across biological molecules. These principles allow us to describe structure and reactivity in complex biological systems and make sense of how these systems operate. This course will cover the three pillars of physical chemistry (thermodynamics, kinetics, and quantum mechanics) from a biological point of view. We will explore reactions involving biological molecules, macromolecular folding/unfolding, ligand binding; enzyme and chemical kinetics; electronic structure, chemical bonds, and spectroscopy. This course is designed for students in biochemistry or biology and is not suitable for students pursuing chemistry.