Distinguishing Between Metal Catalysts for Inner- and Outer-Sphere C-H Bond Functionalization

Submitted by David R. Weinberg / Colorado Mesa University on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 14:13
Description

This activity is meant to teach students about the types of homogeneous transition metal C-H bond functionalization catalysts. Before class, the students will read a short discussion of inner- and outer-sphere C-H bond functionalization catalysts. Then they will use their knowledge of transition metal oxidation states and ligands in order to assess whether a variety of catalysts react via inner- or outer-sphere pathways.

Palladium-Catalyzed Biaryl Coupling Using PEPPSI Under Aqueous Microwave Conditions

Submitted by Gerard Rowe / University of South Carolina Aiken on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 11:53
Description

This is a lab that gives students a chance to use a catalyst to perform "green" chemistry.  Specifically, they will make one of the new generation of palladium cross-coupling catalysts called PEPPSI, which is a highly active, water soluble catalyst and use it in a Suzuki coupling reaction.  Student groups of 2 or 3 will synthesize an NHC ligand, incorporate it into a metal compound, and then perform catalysis in an aqueous microwave reaction using a variety of different reaction conditions in order to determine the optimal catalytic system.

Application of Organometallic Chemistry – Breaking the Inert C-H Bond

Submitted by John Lee / University of Tennessee Chattanooga on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 11:39
Description

This learning object is a literature discussion based on a paper published in Nature (Labinger, J. A.; Bercaw, J. E. Nature 2002, 417, 507-514; doi:10.1038/446391a) discussing the mechanisms of C-H activation by transition metal complexes. This is a topic that could be covered at the end of a section on organometallic chemistry that shows a “newer” application.

NMR Coin-Flip Game

Submitted by azmanam / Butler University on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 09:19
Description

A simple coin-flipping game to help students understand the origin of spin/spin splitting in 1H NMR.

Energy Nugget: Methane to Methanol

Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Thu, 01/12/2012 - 05:40
Description

This learning object was developed with a lot of help from B. Scott Williams from the Keck Science Department of the Claremont Colleges for my junior/senior level course in 2009.   This object is a literature discussion on the topic, but Scott and I hope to add a 5-slides about learning object to go with it shortly.   The primary literature article used for the discussion is “Characterization of a Rhodium(I) sigma-Methane Complex in Solution,” by Wesley H. Bernskoetter, Cynthia K. Schauer, Karen I.

Demonstration on tempering of iron

Submitted by Lee Park / Williams College on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 15:01
Description

This is a simple and quick demonstration of the process oftempering of a solid, and the dramatic

Student-Directed Explorations to teach about ligands

Submitted by Marion Cass / Carleton College on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 14:43
Description

Several years ago I began using a set of Ligand-of-the-Week exercises in my Inorganic course to encourage (force) students to go outside of our textbook and into the chemical reference materials and chemical literature to find examples of ligands that bind to metal ions. My motivation was to get my students to see the wonderful breadth of known metal-ligand complexes and to develop skills associated with analyzing and classifying ligands. My original paper is fairly complete and can be accessed via J. Chem. Educ. which is now available through the ACS website.

19F NMR In-class exercise

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 12:27
Description

This is an in class activity to introduce the topic of multinuclear NMR, which is not covered (beyond 13C) in our sophomore level organic course. It is designed to walk the students through the process of predicting NMR spectra, as they learned in sophomore organic chemistry, but for a different I=1/2 nucleus, in this case 19F, which is I=1/2 and 100% abundant.