For years, I spent 2-3 days a semester working through Tanabe-Sugano diagrams, their development from terms, their evolution from Orgel diagrams, their analysis to give transition energies (the old ruler- trial and error analysis) and nephalauxetic parameters. Recently, colleagues in VIPEr convinced me that my time in class could be better spent, but I am not willing to completely give up on Tanabe-Sugano.
This Lewis structure and VSEPR problem is based on a paper from Inorganic Chemistry in 2010 reporting the crystal structures of a series of salts of the [XeF]+ cation. The [MF6]– and [M2F11]– anions (M = As, Sb, Bi) were used as counterions, and in all cases, the [XeF]+ cation interacts with the anion via a weak bond between the Xe and a fluoride of the anion to form an ion-pair in the crystalline solid. These somewhat unusual ions provide an interesting application of the predictive powers of Lewis stru
This Lewis structure and VSEPR problem is based on a paper from Inorganic Chemistry in 2010 reporting the crystal structure of the carbonyl diazide molecule. This relatively simple molecule provides an interesting application of the predictive powers of Lewis structures and VSEPR theory to molecular structure, backed up by experimental data on bond distances and bond angles. Before tackling carbonyl diazide, the students warm up by considering the structures of hydrogen azide and the isolated azide ion. The reference to the original paper is
For the past four years, I have required my inorganic students to write short 3-page formal lab reports in the form of communication to the Journal of the American Chemical Society. This exercise has relieved some of the stress on my students who are writing reports of other science classes and simplified my grading. Using Jeffrey Kovac's Writing Across the Chemistry Curriculum: An Instructor's Handbook as a starting point, I have developed a rubric to provide qualitative feedback to the stu
This appears to be an excellent introductory text for bioinorganic chemistry. The authors assume no previous biochemistry knowledge and only a cursory understanding of concepts in inorganic chemistry is required. Any student who has completed general chemistry should find most of the book readily accessible.
This is an In class exercise on the subject of Ligand Field theory. It reviews nomenclature and introduces ideas of ligand field splitting and spin in transition metal complexes. It includes both a worksheet for classroom use, a worksheet key which includes some information not on the student worksheet .
This is a lab experiment designed to cover an array of techniques, including metal complex synthesis, spectroscopy and electrochemistry. Overall, the goal is to synthesize the metal complex Ru(bpy)32+, exchange the counter ion to demonstrate changes in solubility, absorbance and emission properties (including excited state quenching through energy and electron transfer, and ground state oxidation), as well as cyclic voltammetry of the complex.
This learning object focuses on fundamental concepts of organometallic chemistry. I use an article published in the Journal of Chemical Education (Jensen, W.B. "The Origin of the 18-Electron Rule," J. Chem. Educ.
This presentation provides an inorganic chemist's perspective on metals used to make organ pipes and their corrosion and conservation. The slides highlight my own research in this area as well as work being done by other scientists around the world. The purpose of this learning object is to show students an application of inorganic chemistry that they probably have not encountered before and show an example of how analytical methods of materials chemistry can be used in conservation science.
This is a short presentation on cyclic voltammetry. It is covers the basics and some simple electrode mechanisms. There is room for improvement (especially in my art) and suggestions are welcome.