Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Mon, 03/20/2023 - 20:37
My Notes
Description

In fall 2022, May Nyman from Oregon State was awarded the F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry for her outstanding accomplishments in synthesis and development of polyoxometalates and metal oxohydroxoclusters, including their structures, speciation, reaction mechanisms, and function. In this literature discussion, students will examine her recent paper “Differentiating Zr/Hf Aqueous Polyoxocation Chemistry with Peroxide Ligation," Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 1631-1640 which is related to that work.

Attachment Size
Nyman ZrHf Complexes_3.docx 28.26 KB
Learning Goals
  • Appreciate the research of an ACS Award Winner in the field of coordination chemistry of metal clusters
  • Apply fundamental topics of inorganic chemistry to recent cutting edge research:
    • electron configuration and oxidation states
    • charges on ligands and metals
    • modes of ligand binding
    • lanthanide contraction
    • symmetry
    • acid base chemistry including the acidity of metal ions
  • Interpret various spectroscopy results in the context of a research project
  • Learn about bond valence sums and how they are used in chemistry
  • Understand how to interpret the abbreviations that chemists sometimes use to refer to complicated complexes
Implementation Notes

This literature discussion is new so it has not yet be implemented in the classroom, but typically I give my students the guiding questions and the paper and several days to prepare for a class discussion, followed by giving the students some time to edit their answers and then collecting them.  This would fit well into a class as an enrichment activity after covering symmetry and coordination chemistry.  There are a lot of questions, so you could edit these as necessary to focus on topics relevant to your own inorganic course.

Time Required
1 class period (with the assignment distributed 1 week in advance)
Evaluation
Evaluation Methods

Students could be evaluated on their written questions either before or after the class discussion and/or their participation in the classroom discussion.  Given the number of questions, you could also split up the class and have them answer selected questions.

Evaluation Results

n/a

Creative Commons License
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike CC BY-NC-SA