Admission requirements
Elective course MSc Chemistry and MSc Life Science and Technology.
For students with basic knowledge of organic chemistry (BSc in Chemistry, Molecular Science and Technology, Life Science and Technology or a related discipline).
Description
This course evolves around the synthesis of the naturally occurring biopolymers: carbohydrates, peptides, nucleic acids and hybrids thereof. These biopolymers play vital roles in life as we know it, and the course will teach how we can assemble well-defined fragments of these and apply these to answer biological questions and in therapeutic agents. Protecting group methodology and coupling strategies will be presented. Recent articles on these subjects will be discussed.
Course objectives
After the course the student should be able to:
Know the name, structure, one letter code of all proteinogenic amino acids;
Be able to design a chemoselective protecting group scheme for all amino acids;
Know the most common peptide coupling reagents;
Design a synthesis for a small peptide sequence;
Understand conformational behavior of carbohydrates;
Understand the reactivity of the different functional groups on a carbohydrate;
Be able to design a protecting group scheme to site-selectively mask the functional groups in a carbohydrate building block;
Understand the basics of glycosylation chemistry and factors influencing the stereochemical outcome of glycosylation chemistry;
Design a synthesis route for a (simple) oligosaccharide;
Understand phosphorous (III and V) chemistry;
Understand modern DNA and RNA chemistry;
Be able to design a route of synthesis for an oligonucleotide;
Combine peptide/carbohydrate and nucleic acid chemistry to synthesize hybrid structures.
Timetable
Schedule information can be found on the website of the programmes.
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
The course consists of problem-solving sessions, rather than formal lectures. In weekly sessions, the structure and reactivity of organic compounds are discussed. Students prepare for these sessions by studying selected chapters from Organic Chemistry textbooks, as well as selected relevant papers from the literature.
Assessment method
Written exam (“closed book”)
Reading list
Handouts and papers from current literature.
Amino Acid & Peptide Synthesis, John Jones, 2nd edition, ISBN: 9780199257386
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Remarks
This biennial course will not be given in 2024-25. Shown above is the course description for 2023-24 as reference. The course is scheduled again for academic year 2025-26.
According to OER article 4.8, students are entitled to view their marked examination for a period of 30 days following the publication of the results of a written examination. Students should contact the lecturer to make an appointment for such an inspection session.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.