The literature discussion is based on a manuscript by Gunnoe and coworkers (ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 5688-5702. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.1c01203). The paper presents mechanistic studies of catalytic oxidative conversion of arenes and olefins to alkenyl arenes with a focus on styrene production.
This LO discuss various aspects of a reversible hydrogen activation by a metal-free phosphonium-borate compound. Attentions are paid to the specific and usual reaction between highly steric phosphine and borane reactants to form a zwitterionic phosphonium borate product. NMR spectroscopy, kinetics and thermodynamics of the hydrogen activation with the phosphonium borate product are also discussed. The original work was published in Science by Douglas W. Stephan and co-workers.
This collection accompanies the IONiC VIPEr nanoCHAt video series NeWBiEs, recorded in Spring 2022. This series is comprised of weekly conversations with two IONiC members, Wes Farrell and Shirley Lin from the US Naval Academy, as they taught a foundation-level inorganic chemistry course for the first time. The LOs discussed in the videos are included in this collection.
Course Description: This foundational course for 2nd-year students covers the properties and trends of molecules derived from across the periodic table. In addition to main-group elements, a deeper understanding of transition metal ions will be developed. Topics covered include periodicity, bonding, symmetry, and reactivity.
The course is currently designed for a student population impacted by COVID and College policies that the department offer this course every third semester. This semester I have a diverse student population in terms of developmental levels including cohort year (freshman, junior, senior), prior foundational course work (biochemistry, analytical, physical), and research experience. I have altered the assessment part of the course substantively from prior iterations and reduced topic coverage to provide flexibility.
This literature discussion involves various aspect of organometallic chemistry ranging from synthesis, reactions, symmetry, NMR and IR spectroscopy of organometallic compounds as well as catalysis.
Students are asked to read the article published in Angewandte Chime, and answer the questions from the worksheet. Students later discuss their answers with the entire class.
Students are asked to provide correct, distinct, and relevant statements about a prompt which includes a coordination complex formula and a Tanabe Sugano diagram. If assigned as an in-class activity, 10 statements meeting the above criteria receive full credit.
Descriptive chemistry of the main group elements with some emphasis on the non-metals. Transition metal compounds: aspects of bonding, spectra, and reactivity; complexes of n-acceptor ligands; organometallic compounds and their role in catalysis; metals in biological systems; preparative, analytical, and instrumental techniques.
The Safety Net (highlighted in a BITeS post) is a great online resource for crowd-sourced standard operating procedures established by Prof. Alexander J. M. Miller (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Prof. Ian A. Tonks (University of Minnesota – Twin Cities). It primarily contains SOPs from the Miller and Tonks research groups, but they invite submissions from the chemistry community. It is a treasure trove of useful information, safety resources, and links to physical property databases.