I found this great website linked from somewhere a few days or a week ago and already forgot where. But I am teaching organic lab this semester and convinced one of the students to do a little research. As a reward, I am going to buy her, and the whole class, gelly roller pens for keeping their notebooks.
This is a GREAT site that has so much detail on keeping a lab notebook. There is a lot of great stuff in there.
This contains three parts: A "Pre-Read" section for students to read before coming to class, an in-class worksheet to be worked in groups, and instructor keys for the worksheet.
The purpose of this exercise is to familiarize and give practice with identifying major classes of reaction (oxidative addition, etc.) in an organometallic catalytic cycle. After this exercise, students should be able to do the same for a new catalytic cycle provided by the instructor on a homework set or exam.
This is a literature discussion based on an interesting Bergman/Arnold paper utilizing d2 niobium imido complexes for the semihydrogenation of arylalkynes to Z-alkenes. The mechanism is quite unusual, and I found it to be an interesting paper to discuss after we had talked about the classical hydrogenation mechanisms (typically observed for late transition metals). The students should come into the discussion understanding fundamental reaction mechanisms (including σ-bond metathesis), and it's helpful if they are somewhat familiar with mono- and dihydride mech
This is an in-class activity--or an activity students do prior to class to in preparation for an in-class discussion--to help students identify stylistic components of published writing. I provide the students with an appropriate journal article, typically a communication from Inorganic Chemistry, such as Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 2922-2924 (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/ic702373b) or Inorg. Chem.
This in-class activity and the related problem set allows students to discover the linear and bent bonding modes of NO to metals based on VSEPR theory through guided inquiry. Two examples follow which illustrate how the electrons are counted in NO complexes depending on the coordination mode/formal charge of NO. Students must have had prior practice in counting electrons of complexes to complete the problems.
Determining the reactive intermediates in metalloenzymes is a very involved task, and requires drawing from many different spectroscopies and physical methods. The facile activation and oxidation of methane to produce methanol is one of the "holy grails" of inorganic chemistry. Strategies exist within materials science and organometallic chemistry to activate methane, but using the enzyme methane monooxygenase, nature is able to carry out this difficult reaction at ambient temperatures and pressures (and in water, too!).
This lecture provides a short introduction to the other half of biological iron chemistry: enzymes that do not contain a porphyrin group that ligates the iron atom. There are several important applications for non-heme iron in cells, both mammalian and bacterial. Oxygen activating non-heme iron enzymes fall into a few basic categories and includes mononuclear iron monooxygenases and dioxygenases, and binuclear iron monooxygenases. The requirements to activate and utilize dioxygen will be given.
These slides provide a brief introduction to the concept of electrocatalysis using the glyoximato cobalt catalysts for hydrogen production recently examined by Peters, Gray, and others. They provide a suitable introduction to the topic for students interested in reading the primary literature on these topics.
I am always interested in building/modifying equipment and glassware, and the following C and E News article led me to an interesting website, also linked, where details on building homemade rotators and stir plates are in place. Both models can be constructed with materials for less than $30. As I'm always looking to keep costs down for equipment like this, I thought I would share it. If anyone knows of other links, please let me know.