I have assigned this problem as a take-home problem after my first lecture about coordination complexes. However, it could potentially be used as an in-class activity instead.

I compile the students’ complexes into a review document that I give them for extra practice before the exam on coordination complexes. I take images of the structures directly from the journal articles rather than draw them myself, but an instructor could just as easily ask the students to re-draw the structures using Chem Draw as part of the assignment. Some of my students have had little practice using Chem Draw, especially for more complex molecules. After a few years of assigning this problem, I now have a large repository of complexes to draw from in writing exam questions.

I review nomenclature rules in my advanced inorganic class, but I don’t put a lot of emphasis on requiring students to be able to name complexes. They do seem to enjoy making the connection between a long and complicated name and the complex’s structure.

Some students run into trouble accessing the journal from off-campus computers; our campus library does provide a way to do this, but many students need a reminder about how to log in and get permission.

This assignment takes the “ionic” approach to electron counting in coordination complexes, but it could be adapted to ask students to use the “covalent” approach instead.