Marine Organic Chemistry - NOT AVAILABLE IN 2024-2025

The basic aims of Marine Organic Chemistry course are: 

-The comprehensive knowledge of the basic concepts, fundamental principles, and theories of Organic Chemistry used and applied in several other courses dealing not only with chemistry but also with processes that take place in the environment, such as Chemical Oceanography, Environmental Chemistry, Marine Geochemistry, Marine Pollution, etc.  

-To provide the background knowledge of Marine Organic Chemistry concerning the sources and sinks, the biotic and abiotic reactions on which distributions/partitioning are dependent and the variabilities of organic chemicals in the oceanic system (fate and behavior) 

Students with the successful completion of the Marine Organic Chemistry course will acquire the ability to: 

-Know and deeply understand the fundamental principles of Organic Chemistry and therefore based on the acquired knowledge extrapolate the associated biotic and abiotic processes occurring in the ocean 

-Study the chemical structures of several different organic substances usually found in the ocean, trace and distinguish their functional groups and evaluate their fate and transport in the marine environment   

-Deeply comprehend the major and basic sources and sinks, main biotic and abiotic reaction pathways that take place and influence distributions/partitioning and variabilities of organic chemicals in the oceanic system (fate and behavior) 

-Be familiar with the basic mechanisms of production and degradation of organic matter in the ocean  

-Form an opinion, reach a conclusion, and predict the possible disturbances in the distribution of organic substances in the sea caused by human activities  

-Explain and predict the types of reactions in which organic-containing molecules  participate in the marine ecosystems 

-Search, comprehensive read, analyze and synthesize literature data related to marine organic chemistry topics 

Interact with others in interdisciplinary scientific issues related to the marine environment by combining all the aforementioned knowledge 

The course focusses to: 

-Apply theory in practice 

-Search, analyze and synthesize data and information, using the necessary tools 

-Independent work 

-Capacity to work in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams 

-Production of new research ideas 

-Respect for the natural environment 

-Critical and self-critical capacity 

-Production of free, creative and inductive thinking 

The basic target of Marine Organic Chemistry course is not only to provide the background knowledge and deep understanding of the basic concepts, fundamental principles, and theories of Organic Chemistry in general, but also the specific knowledge of studying, explaining and predicting the biogeochemical processes in which organic substances participate in the oceanic system. 

The course covers the following topics: 

-Production and degradation of organic matter in sea. Classification of organic matter (dissolved organic matter, particulate organic matter, etc.) 

-Basic terms and theories of chemistry like valence bond theory, hybridization, induction effect, resonance or mesomeric effect, isomerism and types of isomerism (structural isomerism, stereoisomerism, etc.) 

-Chemical structures and IUPAC names of several different organic substances usually found in the ocean, classification into main chemical classes according to the contained functional groups, like saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, organometallic compounds, alcohols, phenols, carbonyl compounds (aldehydes, ketones), carboxylic acids and derivatives (mainly esters, amides, etc.) 

-Activity and factors that influence the distribution of organic matter into gas-liquid-solid phases (e.g. Raoult’s & Henry’s Laws, octanol-water partition coefficient, etc.) 

-Reactions and mechanisms pathways related with the major processes that interact and determine the fate and distribution of organic molecules in the marine environment, including hydrolysis, adsorption, photolysis, biodegradation, bio-transformations, redox reactions, etc. 

-State-of-the-art methodologies and tools used globally for the qualitative and qualitative determination of several fractions of organic matter. Examples of recently published measurements and results available in the relevant literature are also presented 

-Finally, the course includes laboratory exercises in which the students are applying theory in practice. They are trained on basic techniques and analytical methods of isolation, preconcentration, qualitative and quantitative determination of organic compounds contained in various marine matrices (samples of water, sediments, biological tissues), such as liquid/liquid extraction, solid phase extraction, distillation, ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) spectrophotometry, gas chromatography, etc. 

Suggested bibliography: 

-Lecturer’s Notes and Presentations on Marine Organic Chemistry (in Greek) 

-Duursma, E.K., Dawson, R. 1981. Marine Organic Chemistry: Evolution, Composition, Interaction, and Chemistry of Organic Matter in Seawater. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company. Amsterdam - Oxford - New York.  ISBN: 044441892-X (Elsevier Oceanography Series, Vol. 31). 

-McMurry, J. 2016. Organic Chemistry, 9th edition. Cengage Learning. Translation of   9th American Edition in the Greek Language  (with Greek Title: Οργανική Χημεία, 2017), Crete University Press. ISBN: 978-960-524-491-0 

-Schwarzenbach R.P., Gschwend P.M., Imboden D.M., 2002: Environmental Organic Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons LtD, ISBN: 0471350532  

-Varvoglis Α., Organic Chemistry, Zitis Editions, Thessaloniki 2005 (In Greek). ISBN: 960-431-948-5  

- Related academic journals: 

-Marine Chemistry - https://www.journals.elsevier.com/marine-chemistry 

-The Journal of Organic Chemistry-https://pubs.acs.org/loi/joceah 

-Chemosphere - https://www.journals.elsevier.com/chemosphere/  

-Water Research - https://www.journals.elsevier.com/water-research/   

-Marine Environmental Research - https://www.journals.elsevier.com/marine-environmental-research  

-Global Nest Journal - https://journal.gnest.org/