Polarizing Power of Cations

Submitted by Nancy Williams / Scripps College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 20:08
Description

This is a handout which I use in an advanced general chemistry course, but which could be used in an inorganic course as well. It is a mini-periodic table with common cations and their charge to size ratios expressed as Q/r2, where Q is in integer charges (+1, +2), and r is in Angstroms. Conveniently, Na+ is an easy to remember 1.0, and Al3+ and Be2+ are easy to remember values of 10. This corresponds to the polarizing power of these ions, and is a crude proxy for how covalent their interactions with a given anion tend to be.

House: Inorganic Chemistry

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 15:35
Description

House (Inorganic chemistry):  The book is divided into 5 parts:  first, an introductory section on atomic structure, symmetry, and bonding; second, ionic bonding and solids; third, acids, bases and nonaqueous solvents; fourth, descriptive chemistry; and fifth, coordination chemistry.  The first three sections are short, 2-4 chapters each, while the descriptive section (five chapters) and coordination chemistry section (seven chapters covering ligand field theory, spectroscopy, synthesis and reaction chemistry, organometallics, and bioinorganic chemistry.) are longer.  Each chapter includes

Oliver Sacks' "Uncle Tungsten" and inorganic chemistry

Submitted by Joanne Stewart / Hope College on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 21:32
Description

Students read Oliver Sacks' autobiography "Uncle Tungsten" and take turns writing chapter summaries and discussion questions. Some chapters focus on Sacks' childhood chemical explorations and others on the historical period of his youth. In the summary, students are asked to either explain the chemistry in contemporary terms OR explain the context (what was going on in the world) of the historical pieces.

Fluoro Analogue of Wilkinson's Catalyst

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 01:24
Description
This paper describes the synthesis and characterization of the fluoro analogue of Wilkinson's catalyst [(Ph3P)3RhF]. The fluorine for chlorine switch causes an interesting change in the reactivity, promoting activation of C-Cl bonds in chloroarenes. Discussion of this paper nicely pairs with the chemistry of Wilkinson's catalyst, highlighting periodic trends in bonding and reactivity.

Miessler and Tarr: Inorganic Chemistry, 3rd. Ed

Submitted by Nancy Williams / Scripps College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 16:44
Description

Miessler and Tarr is an inorganic textbook which is is best suited to an upper-division one-semester inorganic course, though there is more material than can be covered in a single semester, so some choice of topics is necessary.  It is very well suited for a course oriented around structure, bonding, and reaction chemistry of transition metal compounds, but is very limited in its treatment of solids, main-group, descriptive chemistry, and bioinorganic.  Pchem would be helpful but is not necessary.  In particular, the treatment of MO theory is very in-depth.  The quality of end-of chapter p

Housecroft and Sharpe: Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed

Submitted by Lori Watson / Earlham College on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 20:01
Description

Housecroft and Sharpe (Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed): This is a comprehensive inorganic textbook designed primarily for students at the Junior/Senior level. P-Chem would not be needed as a prerequisite for this text, but would be helpful. It includes both theoretical and descriptive material along with special topics, enough for a two semester course though it is easily adaptable to a one-semester "advanced inorganic" course by choosing only some topics. It is written in a clear and generally readable style and the full-color graphic contribute to student understanding.

Tetrahedral Tellurate

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Sun, 02/17/2008 - 23:27
Description

This communication describes the first example of a discrete tetrahedral tellurate ion, analogous to sulfate and selenate.  This assignment was used as an introduction to the inorganic literature early in the semester.  Pre-discussion questions were adapted from the "How to Read an Inorganic Paper" learning object by Hilary Eppley.  In class discussion focused on communications vs. full papers, the essentials of X-ray crystallographic information, multinuclear NMR, and the periodic trends discussed in this paper.   

The Lanthanide Contraction

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 01:20
Description

This recent article discusses a series of isostructural complexes across the lanthanides using a multidentate ligand.  In these structures, the lanthanides are all eight-coordinate, bonded to all oxygen donors.  Copious structural data is presented that provides excellent experimental verification of the lanthanide contraction.  

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