Notes on Inorganic Chemistry Course 445. Spring Semester
2008.
Lectures: 10.00 a.m., Monday, Wednesday, Friday; Dobo Hall, Room 202.
Textbooks:
The recommended Textbook for the course is C. E. Housecroft and A. G. Sharpe,
“Inorganic Chemistry”, Prentice-Hall, 2nd Edition, 2005. (abbreviated ‘H&S’ below)
(The first edition of H&S is not nearly as good, but you might get by with it if you have
already got a copy for some reason).
Other useful reference books are
1) B. Douglas, D. H. McDaniel, and J. J. Alexander ‘Concepts and Models of
Inorganic Chemistry’ 3rd Edition, Wiley, 1994.
2) J. E. Huheey, E. A. Keiter and R. L. Keiter, “Inorganic Chemistry”, 4th Edition,
Harper-Collins, 1993.
3) F. A. Cotton and G. Wilkinson, ‘Advanced Inorganic Chemistry’ 5th or 6th Edn.,
Wiley, 1988 or 1999.
4) N. N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw, “Chemistry of the Elements’, Pergamon, 2nd
Edition 1997.
Grading. There will be three exams during the semester, each counting 25%. The final
will cover all the material in the course, and there will be replacement grades for the
semester exams.
Course Content:
The course will cover the following topics: (all references are to H&S unless otherwise
indicated)
.
Basic principles:
Bonding Models: (Chapter 1) EXAM 1 covers chapters 1-6.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Atomic orbitals p 9-25 (revision of general chemistry)
The octet rule. p 36.
The VSEPR Model p 43-48,
Electronegativity, p 36-39.
Molecular Orbital Theory. p 29-36.
MO Theory for heteronuclear diatomic molecules, p 41-42.
Geometrical Isomerism. p 48-49.
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Molecular Symmetry. (Chapter 3)
8) Symmetry operations, p. 79-84.
9) Point Groups. p 84-89.
10) Character Tables. p 89
Bonding in Polyatomic Molecules. (Chapter 4)
11) Hybridization. p 100-105
12) MO diagrams in polyatomic species 105-116
Ionic Lattices. (Chapter 5).
14) Ionic Radii. p 144-147.
Acids and Bases in Aqueous Solution. (Chapter 6)
15) Properties of water. p 162-166.
16) Bronsted Acids and Bases. p 166-171.
17) Aquated cations p. 171-173
18) Amphoteric behavior 173-174
19) Solubility Products. P 174-175
20) Coordination Complexes p 178-186.
21) Hard and Soft Acids and Bases. p 186-188.
Reduction and Oxidation. (Chapter 7) EXAM 2 covers chapters 7-18.
22) Oxidation states. p 192-193.
23) Standard Reduction Potentials p 193-197
Chemistry of the Main-Group Elements:
Overview (not in H&S – if you miss this lecture you will flounder for the rest of the
course) – a walk around the periodic table. The role of oxidation state, ionic radius and
electronegativity in producing chemical properties. Relativistic effects (p. 298). The
effect of the inert pair (p. 299).
Hydrogen. (Chapter 9)
24) The proton. p. 236-237.
25) Isotopes of hydrogen. p. 237-238.
26) The Hydrogen Bond. p. 244-250.
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The Alkali Metals. (Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) (Chapter 10)
27) General. p. 257. Oxides and hydroxides (p 264-265)
28) Aqueous solution Chemistry p. 267-271 (crown ethers, cryptands)
The Alkali-Earth Metals. (Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) (Chapter 11).
29) General. p 275. Oxides and hydroxides. P 285.
30) Aqueous chemistry p. 287-288. (crown ethers, cryptands)
The Group 13 Elements. (B, Al, Ga, In, Tl). (Chapter 12).
31) General
32) Coordination complexes of the M3+ ions p. 323-324
33) The Inert pair and Relativistic Effects. Tl(I), p 311-313.
34) Boron Hydrides p 301-307.
35) Borane Clusters. p 326-333.
The Group 14 Elements. (C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb). (Chapter 13).
36) Allotropes of carbon p 345-353. Fullerenes.
37) The Chemistry of Sn(II) and Pb(II). p 381.
The Group 15 Elements. (N, P, As, Sb, Bi.) (Chapter 14).
38) The hydrides p 394-399.
39) Phosphorus oxo acids p 419-422
40) Aqueous solution chemistry. p 428.
The Group 16 Elements: (O, S, Se, Te, Po). (Chapter 15).
41) Hydrides. p 442-445.
The Group 17 Elements: (F, Cl, Br, I, At) (Chapter 16)
42) Hydrogen halides p 477. Why HF is a weak acid.
43) Dihalides as Lewis Acids 479-483 [I3]-, [I(pyridine)2]+
The Group 18 Elements: (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe). (Chapter 17).
44) Physical Properties. p 494-496
45) Compounds of the Inert Gases. p 496-501.
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The d-block Elements. EXAM 3 covers Chapters 19-20.
General Considerations. (Chapter 19).
46) Electronic configurations. p 535-536.
47) Characteristic properties. p 538.
48) Paramagnetism p 539
49) Complex-formation p 539
50) Oxidation states p 539
51) Coordination numbers p 541-547.
52) Isomerism. p 547-552.
Coordination complexes. (Chapter 20).
53) Nomenclature. Part 2. Handout.
54) High and Low-spin states p 555.
55) Bonding in d-block complexes. p 555-557.
56) Crystal Field Theory. p. 557-560
57) Crystal Field Stabilization Energy p. 560-561.
58) Jahn-Teller Distortion p 561-562
59) The Tetrahedral Crystal Field p 562.
60) Square planar Complexes p 562
61) MO theory for Octahedral complexes p 564-566
62) Ligand Field Theory p 570-571
63) Selection rules. p 571.
64) Electronic spectra p 574-577
65) Tanabe-Sugano diagrams p 577.
66) The nephelauxetic effect p 578-579
67) Magnetic properties p 579-581
68) Thermodynamic aspects of LFSE 585-589.
D-Block Metal Chemistry. Chapter 21.
69) The Chemistry of iron p 618-624
70) The Chemistry of Cobalt p 624-630
71) The Chemistry of Nickel p 630-634
72) The Chemistry of Copper p 634-639
The second and third Rows. Chapter 22.
73) The Chemistry of Palladium and Platinum p 684-689
Organometallic Compounds. Chapter 23.
74) Ligand Hapticity p 700
75) Types of organometallic ligand p. 700
76) Carbonyl ligands p 701-702
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77) Hydride ligands p 702
78) Phosphines p 703
79) π-bonded organic ligands p 704
80) The 18-electron rule p 707-709
81) Metal carbonyls p 709-714
82) Oxidative addition p 719
83) Alkyl migrations p 720
84) Complexes of aromatic ligands p 730-737
The f-block elements. Chapter 24.
100) f-orbitals and oxidation states p. 742.
101) The lanthanide contraction p. 743
102) Coordination numbers p. 743.
103) Electronic spectra and magnetic moments p. 744
104) Occurrence and separation p. 747.
105) The actinides p 748-751.
106) The chemistry of Th, U, and Pu. p. 756-759
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