My Notes
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This is a worksheet for students to complete in class to practice nomenclature of coordination compounds. It may alternatively be assigned as homework after a lesson on nomenclature. Includes examples of Ewing-Bassett system as well as Stock system.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| This is the worksheet that students get. | 13.7 KB |
| These are the rules on which the worksheet is based. | 13.77 KB |
Given a formula, students should be able to correctly apply the nomenclature rules in order to write names for coordination complexes.
Given a name, students should be able to correctly apply the nomenclature rules in order to write the formula for the coordination complex.
Given a correct name (or formula), students should be able to draw a representation of a coordination complex.
None
I hand out this worksheet after an introductory lecture on nomenclature, in which I list the rules and give a few illustrative examples. I ask students to work in groups of three or four on the worksheet items, stopping them frequently to compare answers between groups and answer questions. If we do not complete all of the items during the class period, I will ask students to complete the rest on their own and then discuss their results at the beginning of the next class period.
Except for cis/trans, which most students have used previously in organic chemistry, I don't include isomers at this point. However, several of the items on the second page are left unspecific so that when students attempt to draw the structures, they often come up with different answers and this allows me to introduce the idea of isomers and let the students think about that a little.
Evaluation
I do not grade the students’ answers because we discuss them in class. While the students are working through the items, I walk around the room and observe to make sure that students are applying the nomenclature rules correctly. I offer hints or reminders as needed.
Typically, if I ask students to take the worksheet home and complete it before the next class, they are able to do this successfully. I will start the following class by calling on individual students to share their answers and then discuss as needed.
After completing this worksheet, most of the students were able to correctly answer similar questions from the textbook as homework.
One difficult part for my students has been the correct names of ligands. They rely on the lists of ligands in the textbook until those names become familiar.
I used this a little differently. I put each compound on its own piece of paper (1/6 of a sheet per compound) and gave each group of 3-4 students one compound from each page. I gave the groups about 15 minutes to work on their two compounds, then we came together as a class and each group presented their answer, which was then critiqued (and corrected) by the class.