This learning object is designed to spark discussion and educate students taking an inorganic chemistry course about laboratory safety. It uses the article "Learning from UCLA" by Jyllian N. Kemsley (Chemical & Engineering News (2009), Vol. 87 Issue 31, pp.
I asked the students in my junior/senior inorganic course to develop their own literature discussion learning objects and lead the rest of the class in a discussion of their article. Student Johann Maradiaga chose this article describing the synthesis and characterization of Fe2GeS4 nanocrystals with potential applications in photovoltaic devices (Sarah J. Fredrick and Amy L. Prieto, “Solution Synthesis and Reactivity of Colloidal Fe2GeS4: A Potential Candidate for Earth Abundant, Nanostructured Photovoltaics” J. Am. Chem.
In this activity, students will compare and contrast two closely related structures, [Pd(dcpf)PR3]2+ (dcpf = 1,1'-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ferrocene; R = Me or Ph). They will be required to obtain the cif files from the supporting information of a paper. They will then make a variety of measurments in the two stuctures. These measurements can be made using a variety of different freely available programs. Instructions are provided for Mercury 3.3 and Olex2. Finally, students will be required to provide a rationale for the differences in the two structures.
In this case study, information is presented to students in the form of a dialog between a physician and two parents who have just learned that their child has thalassemia (Cooley’s Anemia). The treatment for this disorder requires a lifetime commitment to whole blood transfusion and chelation therapy (both administered on a daily to weekly basis); the biggest obstacle to long term survival is patient non-compliance.
These slides describe the recent literature on the structure of the iron sulfur cluster of nitrogenase active site, FeMo-co. Included are: a comparison of industrial vs. biological ammonia production, several crystal structures from the literature including the unknown until recently hypervalent carbon atom in the center, and a brief mention of the troubling sterics of the active site as crystallized.
This suite of activities can be used as a unit exploring the use of small molecule models and biophysical techniques to illuminate complicated biomolecules. The Parent LO: Modeling the FeB center in bacterial Nitric Oxide reductase is a short, data-filled and well-written article that is approachable with an undergraduate's level of understanding.
This learning object consists of a bibliography of materials concerning bioinorganic chemistry which have appeared in C&E News over approximately the past 15 years (1999-2014). Many come from the Science and Technology Concentrates, some from News of the Week, others are full articles, and a few are letters to the editor. They cover a wide variety of bioinorganic topics. Also included are citations for the articles from the primary literature paper referred to in the respective C&E News articles.
This web resource is a TEDx talk about zinc and zinc's role in the early stages of the maturation of the egg. This would be a great introduction video for a gen chem, inorganic, or bioinorganic chemistry course. It introduces the idea that Zinc is stored in specific locations on the egg and then released all at the same time.
This is a problem set based on the article "Energetic Cuprous Azide Complex: Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Effection on the Thermal Decomposition of HMX" in the Journal of Chemical Crystallography. It has been used in a Chemistry Capstone course for both Chemistry and Biochemistry majors during the first semester senior year. Biochemistry majors are not required to take Inorganic Chemistry and Chemistry majors may be currently taking Inorganic chemistry.