This in-class group activity provides several examples of varying difficulty for students to assign MLXZ classifications and electron counts to organometallic complexes.  Though some of the problems are straightforward, some are really ambiguous, and the intent is for student groups to grapple with the issues raised by each one and present their findings to the class to spark further discussion.

The slides provide review questions for a senior-level treatment of the spectroscopy and reactivity of metal carbonyl complexes. These are intended to be dispersed through one to three class periods.

The first slide is a review of electron counting and the 18-electron rule.

The second slide quizzes the students on the relationship between the electron-density of the metal center and the strength of the C-O bonds in the carbonyl ligands. It is intended to be given after a discussion of how IR can be used to assess the strength of M-C and C-O bonds in the compounds.

This is a simple activity designed to help students visualize the interaction of atomic orbitals to form molecular orbitals.  Students construct atomic orbitals out of Play-Doh and determine whether overlap of a given pairs of atomic orbitals along the specified axis can result in a σ, π, or δ interaction or no net interaction.  I do this activity following a reading assignment and lecture on the formation of molecular orbitals from atomic orbitals that cover the various types of interactions.  Students then work in groups of 3-4 to complete the instructions described on the attached worksh

Students are asked to find a coordination complex in the recent literature and analyze its structure. This homework or in-class activity is a great way for the instructor to crowd source the discovery of interesting new complexes to use as material in future exams.

In this exercise, students are introduced to Mercury, a program for visualizing and analyzing crystal structure data.  Students are guided through opening the program for the first time and viewing a structure from the Teaching Subset, a selection of structures from the Cambridge Crystallographic Database (CSD). Activites include changing the representation of the complex, moving the structure around the window, accessing information about the structure, and measuring bond lengths and angles within the structure.