Iron Catalysts for Lactide Polymerization
This set of questions is intended to guide students through an excellent article by Jeff Byers and co-workers that describes the us
This set of questions is intended to guide students through an excellent article by Jeff Byers and co-workers that describes the us
This Guided Literature Discussion was assigned as a course project, and is the result of work originated by students Stefanie Barnett and Katelyn Yowell. It is based on the article “Synthesis, Electrochemistry, and Reactivity of Half-Sandwich Ruthenium Complexes Bearing Metallocene-Based Bisphosphines”, Shaw, A.P.; Norton, J.R.; Bucella, D.; Sites, L.A.; Kleinbach, S.S.; Jarem, D.A.; Bocage, K.M.; Nataro, C. Organometallics 2009, 28, 3804-3814.
A literature discussion has been developed for two courses: (i) a more basic set of questions appropriate for a sophomore level course or, possibly, a one semester upper level course that does not spend much time on organometallics, and (ii) an in-depth, in- and out-of-class set of assignments appropriate for an organometallics unit or course. Both sets of questions explore the mechanism of olefin metathesis in first- and second-generation Grubbs catalysts using a variety of spectroscopic kinetic techniques that were presented in the paper Sanford, M. S.; Love, J. A.; Grubbs, R. H. J.
The website shared here includes excellent simulations concerning a wide variety of techniques commonly used in materials science and inorganic chemistry. I have found it particularly useful for X-ray crystallography as the simulations help understand the lectures.
Reading and understanding a journal article is a critical skill to obtain as a student. After college, many students will pursue careers in which learning occurs exclusively from the literature. Students will read a full paper from the journal Inorganic Chemistry and answer guiding questions pertaining to the article. There will be an in class discussion about the article to introduce which is used to introduce the topic of catalysis. This assignment breaks down the article through a series of questions that helps students to navigate a journal article.
Literature discussion about the first examples of molecular hydrogen complexes isolated by Gregory J. Kubas in the early 80s. The questions are divided into groups with two levels of difficulty.
The more basic group of questions includes topics on:
1) Coordination Chemistry: electron count, geometry, oxidation state, orbital interactions, types of ligands, binding modes, cis/trans and fac/mer isomers.
2) Symmetry elements and point groups.
3) Basic concepts on spectroscopy: NMR, Raman, IR, UV/Vis, XANES, EXAFS, neutron and X-ray diffraction
This is a literature discussion based on a short paper on ethylene compounds of the coinage metals (Dias, H. V. R.; Wu, J. Organometallics 2012, 31, 1511-1517). In this paper, analogous ethylene compounds are prepared with Cu(I), Ag(I) and Au(I). The other ligand on the coinage metal is a scorpionate tris(pyrazolyl)borate ligand. The strength of the interaction between the metal and the ethylene varies significantly with the coinage metal as seen in X-ray crystallographic and spectroscopic (1H and 13C NMR) data.
This 5 slides about introduces the term "atom economy" as a means for undergraduates to start thinking about the efficiency of synthetic reactions. While this term may not be the best measure of the overall process of a reaction (as it ignores other factors such as solvents and materials used in purification), it provides a nice introduction to a concept on green chemistry. An example of an atom economic reaction, hydroamination, is briefly highlighted as it is an important ongoing research area. Notes for the instructor are included in the slides.
Based on the literature reference, this activity allows students to discover inner-sphere and outer-sphere catalytic hydrogenation mechanisms then apply their knowledge to hydroborylation. This is a guided-inquiry in-class activity that students can complete in small groups or individually with instructor support.
The article “Synthesis and Reactivity of Oxorhenium(V) Methyl, Benzyl, and Phenyl Complexes with CO; Implications for a Unique Mechanism for Migratory Insertion,” Robbins, LK; Lilly, CP; Smeltz, JL; Boyle, PD; Ison, EA;, Organometallics 2015, 34, 3152-3158 is an interesting read for students studying reaction mechanisms of organometallic complexes. The reading guide directs students to the sections of the paper that support the question posed in the Discussion Questions document.