National ACS Award Winners 2022 LO Collection
This collection of learning objects was created to celebrate the National ACS Award Winners 2022 who are members of the Division of Inorganic Chemistry. The list of award winners is shown below.
SLiThErs - Supporting Learning with Interactive Teaching: a Hosted, Engaging Roundtable
A collection of all of the IONiC VIPEr SLiThErs (Supporting Learning with Interactive Teaching: a Hosted, Engaging Roundtable). These events are short presentations on a topic followed by a period of discussion between the presenter and live participants. Each of these events is recorded and posted to the IONiC VIPEr YouTube Channel.
National ACS Award Winners 2026 LO Collection
This collection of learning objects was created to celebrate the National ACS Award Winners 2026 who conduct research related to inorganic chemistry.
The list of award winners included in this collection are shown below. (* denotes learning object pending) IONiC members are welcome to develop more LOs for the collection.
Si and Ge ferrocenes
Description
This literature discussion is in honor of the work of Shigeyoshi Inoue, winner of the 2026 Frederic Stanley Kipping Award in Silicon Chemistry for “groundbreaking contributions to the synthesis and reactivity of low-valent silicon compounds, and advancing the potential of silicon in metal-free catalysis and small-molecule activation” (https://cen.acs.org/a
Characterization of group VI carbonyls with bidentate phosphines
Description
This literature discussion comes from a paper in the Turkish Journal of Chemistry (1999, 23, 9-14) https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/chem/vol23/iss1/2/. In this paper, the authors report spectroscopic data for nine compounds, [M(CO)4(PP)] (M = Cr, Mo or W; PP = dppm, dppe, dppp). This is a very fundamental paper and as such, students are not expected to have had any significant coursework in inorganic chemistry.
Synthesis and Group Theory Analysis of MoO2(acac)2
Description
This laboratory experiment is a quick and straightforward synthesis of a MoO2(acac)2 complex. The ligand set allows for two possible geometric arrangements: cis and trans. Using IR spectroscopy along with group theory analysis of the Mo-O stretching modes, students can determine which isomer they formed in their synthesis. NMR spectroscopy is also employed, and confirms the geometric arrangement due to the inequivalence of the acac methyl groups.
1FLO: Addition of H2 to four-coordinate iridium
Description
This paper (J. Organomet. Chem. 2022, 965-966, 122317) describes the synthesis and reactivity of four-coordinate iridium compound with a tridentate ligand. This ligand is referred to in the paper as a pincer ligand which are a general class of tridentate ligands that coordinate in a mer- arrangement.
2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - MOFs
In celebration of the 2025 Nobel prize in Chemistry awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yagi, this collection features various LOs about MOFs.
Rhenium isocyanide complexes from the Figueroa group
Description
This literature discussion is in honor of Dr. Josh Figueroa, recipient of the 2026 F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry. Josh has done some tremendous work with isocyanide ligands and this paper is but a brief glimpse into this field. The complexes of interest contain carbonyl ligands and isocyanide ligands, so there are plenty of opportunities for students to use group theory to predict the number of IR-active vibrations for these ligands.
From Whiteboard to Spartan: An Integrated Exploration of H2A Molecular Orbitals and Molecular Geometry
Description
This two-part activity offers an integrated approach to understanding molecular orbitals and molecular geometry. In class, students will first engage in a hands on, qualitative construction of the H2O molecular orbital diagram using symmetry principles and a whiteboard.