This course will explore many of the fundamental principles of inorganic chemistry, with significant emphasis on group theory, molecular orbital theory, angular overlap theory, coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and bio-inorganic chemistry. Specific topics will vary, but will generally include coverage of atomic structure, simple bonding theory, donor-acceptor chemistry, the crystalline solid state, coordination compounds and isomerism, electronic and infrared spectroscopy applied to inorganic complexes, substitution mechanisms, and catalysis.
This course is an introduction to modern inorganic chemistry. Topics include principles of structure, bonding, and chemical reactivity with application to compounds of the main group and transition elements, including organometallic chemistry.
This literature discussion focuses on a 2022 Nature Comm paper looking at the reasons behind the pyramidal structures of tri-coordinate f-element complexes. There is plenty to discuss in terms of bonding and coordination geometries in metal complexes, and the effects of pressure on coordination geometry.
This literature discussion focuses on a Inorg. Chem. article that describes a series of Pt complexes that exhibit competitive reductive elimination reactions to form either an sp2-sp3 bond or an sp3-sp3 bond. One of the complexes also contains a C-C agostic interaction with the metal. The questions are written to be addressed by students in a foundation-level inorganic course.
The second in a series on teaching advanced topics to undergraduates, the SLiThEr focuses on organoMetallic chemistry. While the primary framework for the discussion is my senior level course, there is plenty of great content from the live participants.
One thousand interactive organometallic and coordination complexes have been selected and prepared for practice and discovery in electron counting problems. The structures can be displayed and manipulated without requiring software installation using a web browser with JavaScript and JSmol.
A guided inquiry activity for students to build the MO diagram for HF based on energetic and symmetry considerations. Students then compare their model to a standard MO diagram and examine what additional information a MO diagram conveys that the Lewis structure does not.
Chip Nataro (Lafayette College) hosts a live discussion covering the favorite labs that people teach. The discussion somewhat evolved into a conversation on "so, you are teaching inorganic lab for the first time...what do you do?"
Stanley-Gray, Zhang, and Venkataraman from UMass Amherst mined the Cambridge Structural Database to put together graphics that show trends for coordination geometry, distribution of oxidation states, overall coordination geometry, and coordination geometry with specific ligands to understand the influence of ligand on geometry.