A Living Syllabus for Sophomore Level Inorganic Chemistry
Description
In my sophomore level inorganic course, I have experimented with the idea of a living syllabus as a way to develop my own specific learning objectives and to help the students connect the material to the tasks that will be expected of them in assessing their learning.
Suite of LOs on Biomimetic Modeling
This suite of activities can be used as a unit exploring the use of small molecule models and biophysical techniques to illuminate complicated biomolecules. The Parent LO: Modeling the FeB center in bacterial Nitric Oxide reductase is a short, data-filled and well-written article that is approachable with an undergraduate's level of understanding.
Cobalt Schiff Base Zinc Finger Inhibitors
Description
This is a literature discussion based on the paper “Spectroscopic Elucidation of the Inhibitory Mechanism of Cys2
Coordination Diversity and Biological Activity of a Monodentate Au(III) Compound
Description
This learning object focuses on a recent publication (Acta Crystallographia 2014, C70, 260 -266) by the Collins research group in the Department of Chemistry at The College of Wooster. Specifically, the paper evaluates the coordination diversity of a N-donor ligand, 2-phenyl-1,10-phenanthroline(pnp) with three new pnp-metal complexes containing Au(III), Cu(II), and Pd(II) metal centers.
A Review of 3DMolSym: A Web Resource for Teaching Molecular Symmetry
Description
Introducing you to 3DMolSym: A Web Resource for Teaching Molecular Symmetry that uses Adobe Shockwave for Visualizations and Animations.
Note there is a slight difference when operating this resource on a Mac or in a Windows Operating Systerm. On a Mac if you don't change an item (any item) in the pull down menu on the right when the resouce opens, the selection of molecules will be frame shifted by one molecule. An easy fix is described in the Description below.
The Structure and Symmetry of Metal Tris Chelates
Description
I have provided a link to a Web Resource: The Strucutre and Symmetry of Metal Tris Chelates which I developed several years ago with my collegue Henry Rzepa from Imperial College London (and which was posted as Web Ware on the Jourmal of Chemical Education Website and is not longer available to view there). The Web site uses 3D images of known molecules and scripted commands to teach about the symmetry elements and operations in these molecules. Instruction is also given on assigning absolute configurations and ligand twist conformations. Animations of the Bailar Twist and Ray Dutt Mech
Molecular Orbitals of Square-Planar Tetrahydrides
Description
This in-class activity walks students through the preparation of a molecular-orbital diagram for methane in a square-planar environment. The students generate ligand-group orbitals (LGOs) for the set of 4 H(1s) orbitals and then interact these with carbon, ultimately finding that such a geometry is strongly disfavored because it does not maximize H/C bonding and leaves a lone pair on C.
'Sophomore' symmetry: Lecture materials
Description
Having been inspired by a number of wonderful LOs, I introduced group theory in my 'sophomore' inorganic class this spring. In addition to learning to determine the point group of a molecule, students were taught how to construct a qualitative MO diagram though the use of LGOs. While a little more than 5 slides, this is what I used in lecture to cover the material.
Group Theory for Mathematicians
Description
While informally chatting with friends in our math department, I realized that I could put together a presentation about how chemists use group theory. I was invited to give the presentation as part of our math department's weekly colloquium series. The talk was to be one hour in length, and my math colleague described their typical format as: