CHEM 122B: Inorganic Chemistry II
Spring 2014
Instructor: Christine M. Thomas
E-mail: thomasc@brandeis.edu
Office: Edison-Lecks 307
Phone: x62576
Course times: M,W,Th 11 AM – 11:50 AM
Office hours: Thurs 11am-1pm, Fri 4-6pm
TA: Bing Wu (wubing@brandeis.edu)
TA Office: Edison-Lecks 306
Additional course hour: REQUIRED for graduate students, time and location TBA
(likely either evening or during lunch hour)
Textbook: REQUIRED: Miessler, G. L.; Tarr, D. A. Inorganic Chemistry, 3rd, 4th, or 5th
Ed. is fine, Prentice-Hall, Chapters covered (some partial): 1-3 (review), 5-6, 9-10, 13-16.
RECOMMENDED for undergraduates, REQUIRED for graduate students: Hartwig, J. F.
Organotransition Metal Chemistry: From Bonding to Catalysis, University Science
Books. Additional reading from the primary literature will be assigned as necessary.
Other resources: Latte will be used to post lecture notes, assignments, answer keys, and
other relevant material.
Learning Goals:
Upon completion of this course, students will have a firm grasp on the structure
and bonding of inorganic and organometallic molecules. Using qualitative and intuitive
bonding models, students will be able to understand and rationalize the reactivity of
transition metal complexes. Furthermore, this course will expose students to emerging
areas of chemical research and the fundamental chemistry at the heart of global
challenges (sustainability, renewable energy, “green” chemistry, etc.). Students in this
course will also be exposed to modern physical and analytical characterization
techniques, including methods in spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and materials
characterization. As part of an assignment in this course, students will also gain hands-on
experience in the modern computational methods used to understand transition metal
complexes and make predictions about their structure, bonding, and reactivity. Graduate
students, in particular, will gain an appreciation of and familiarity with the primary
chemical literature and current “hot” and/or controversial research topics in inorganic and
organometallic chemistry; upon completion of this course, they will be well-equipped to
understand and critically evaluate the current literature and will be well-versed in the
technique and practice of scientific communication.
Topics covered (subject to change)
I.
II.
Introduction to inorganic/organometallic chemistry and chemical literature
(Chapter 1)
Bonding in inorganic molecules (Chapter 2-3)
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
a. Review of orbitals, quantum numbers, and valence shells (Chapter 2.12.2)
b. Periodic trends (Chapter 2.3)
c. Lewis structures (Chapter 3.1)
d. VSEPR theory (Chapter 3.2)
Molecular orbital theory (Chapter 4-5)
a. Basic molecular symmetry (Chapter 4.1)
b. Qualitative and intuitive derivation of molecular orbital diagrams (Chapter
5…will be abbreviated)
Acid/Base chemistry (Chapter 6)
a. Historical definitions of “acids” and “bases” – Bronsted vs Lewis (Chapter
6.1-6.4)
b. Superacids and superbases (Chapter 6.3.5)
c. The hard/soft concept (Chapter 6.6)
d. The importance of non-coordination anions (and cations!)
e. Frustrated Lewis pairs (Chapter 6.4.8)
Transition metal complexes (Chapters 9- 10)
a. Coordination numbers and geometric preferences (Chapter 9.4)
b. d-orbital splitting diagrams derived using ligand field theory (Chapter
10.3-10.4…will be abbreviated)
Organometallic Chemistry (Chapter 13)
a. Ligand types, L/X approach
b. Electron-counting, the 18-electron “rule” and formal oxidation states
(Chapter 13.3)
c. Transition metal carbonyls (Chapter 13.4.1-13.4.2)
d. Transition metal hydrides (Chapter 13.4.3)
e. Metallocenes and related compounds (Chapter 13.5)
Bonding in Inorganic/organometallic complexes (Chapter 15)
a. Metal-ligand multiple bonds – tearing down the “oxo” wall
b. Metal-metal multiple bonds (Chapter 15.3)
c. The isolobal analogy (Chapter 15.2)
Spectroscopic Characterization of Inorganic/Organometallic Complexes and
Physical Methods
a. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (Chapter 13.8.2)
b. Variable temperature NMR spectroscopy
c. EPR Spectroscopy
d. Mossbauer spectroscopy
e. SQUID magnetometry
f. Cyclic voltammetry
Organometallic reaction mechanisms (Chapter 14)
a. General reaction steps – oxidative addition, reductive elimination,
metathesis, insertion, elimination (Chapter 14.1-14.2)
b. Cross-coupling reactions (Chapter 14.1.3)
c. Hydrogenation/hydrosilylation (Chapter 14.3.4)
d. Hydroformylation (Chapter 14.3.2)
e. Olefin polymerization (Chapter 14.4.1)
f. Olefin metathesis (Chapter 14.3.6)
g. Fundamental transformations related to renewable energy applications
Bioinorganic chemistry (Chapter 16)
a. Roles of metals in enzymatic catalysis
b. Metals in medicine
X.
Grading
Undergraduates
10% problem sets
15% computational project
20% exam #1
20% exam #2
35% final exam
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Graduate students
10% problem sets
15% independent project + participation
20% exam #1
20% exam #2
35% final exam
Problem sets will be distributed weekly on non-exam weeks and will be due on
Monday mornings at the beginning of class (unless stated otherwise) – problem
sets turned in late will count as a 0 (unless previously negotiated)
Exams will be scheduled in the evening (2 hours…tentatively the week of Feb 1014, and the week of March 24-28)
The final exam will be cumulative.
Grading will be scaled on an “as-needed” basis
Graduate students and undergraduates will be graded on the same scale, but with
slightly different assignments for 15% of the grade
Undergraduates: 15% of your grade will be based on a guided independentinquiry computational project; more on that later in the semester
Graduate students: 10% of your grade will be based on an independent
computational project (you will design a project yourself); 5% of your grade will
be based on participation in the extra course-hour discussions.
Policies
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Collaborative work:
-Collaboration with your peers on problem sets is welcome and encouraged.
-Working in groups is a great way to help each other learn the material, however,
I expect each of you to turn in individual problem sets showing all explanations
for your answers.
-Bear in mind that graded problem sets are for YOUR benefit.
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Laptops/cell phones:
-Laptop use in class is prohibited. Note-taking in this course cannot be done
effectively using a computer since this course involves chemical structures,
orbitals, and 3-dimensional representations. If you have extensive circumstances
that might require laptop use (i.e. broken writing hand/arm), speak with the
instructor.
-Cell phone use during class is distracting to other students and disrespectful to
me and, thus, is expressly forbidden. If I see or hear a cellular device, I reserve the
right to confiscate it or destroy it by any means necessary.
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Makeup exams:
-If you need to makeup an exam due to a legitimate conflict (academic, religious,
etc), the instructor must be notified one week ahead of time and a makeup exam
will be scheduled prior to the scheduled exam date for the rest of the class
-If you miss an exam for an unexpected reason (illness, family crisis, etc), you
will be excused from the exam and your final grade for the course will be adjusted
accordingly (i.e. divided by 80% rather than 100%).
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Academic dishonesty is a serious academic offense at Brandeis University and may lead
to severe academic penalties. See Student Rights and Responsibilities for details.
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