CHEM 122B: Inorganic Chemistry II

Fall 2015

Instructor: Christine M. Thomas Course times: M,W,Th 12 AM – 12:50 AM

E-mail: Location: SSC LL16

Office: Edison-Lecks 307 Instructor office hours: Tues 12pm-2pm

Phone: x62576 Mon 1pm-3pm

Prerequisite: Chem 25a/b, or the equivalent (i.e. undergraduate organic chemistry).

Additional course hour: REQUIRED for graduate students, Friday 5:30-6:30 pm

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.

Expectations

Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, problem sets, preparation for exams, etc).

Topics covered (order and content subject to change)

I.  Introduction to inorganic/organometallic chemistry and chemical literature (Chapter 1)

II.  Bonding in inorganic molecules (Chapter 2-3)

  1. Review of orbitals, quantum numbers, and valence shells (Chapter 2.1-2.2)
  2. Periodic trends (Chapter 2.3)
  3. Lewis structures (Chapter 3.1)
  4. VSEPR theory (Chapter 3.2)

III.  Molecular orbital theory (Chapter 4-5)

  1. Basic molecular symmetry (Chapter 4.1)
  2. Qualitative and intuitive derivation of molecular orbital diagrams (Chapter 5…will be abbreviated)

IV.  Acid/Base chemistry (Chapter 6)

  1. Historical definitions of “acids” and “bases” – Bronsted vs Lewis (Chapter 6.1-6.4)
  2. Superacids and superbases (Chapter 6.3.5)
  3. The hard/soft concept (Chapter 6.6)
  4. The importance of non-coordination anions (and cations!)
  5. Frustrated Lewis pairs (Chapter 6.4.8)

V.  Transition metal complexes (Chapters 9- 10)

  1. Coordination numbers and geometric preferences (Chapter 9.4)
  2. d-orbital splitting diagrams derived using ligand field theory (Chapter 10.3-10.4…will be abbreviated)

VI.  Organometallic Chemistry (Chapter 13)

  1. Ligand types, L/X approach
  2. Electron-counting, the 18-electron “rule” and formal oxidation states (Chapter 13.3)
  3. Transition metal carbonyls (Chapter 13.4.1-13.4.2)
  4. Transition metal hydrides (Chapter 13.4.3)
  5. Metallocenes and related compounds (Chapter 13.5)

VII.  Bonding in Inorganic/organometallic complexes (Chapter 15)

  1. Metal-ligand multiple bonds – tearing down the “oxo” wall
  2. Metal-metal multiple bonds (Chapter 15.3)
  3. The isolobal analogy (Chapter 15.2)

VIII.  Spectroscopic Characterization of Inorganic/Organometallic Complexes and Physical Methods

  1. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (Chapter 13.8.2)
  2. Variable temperature NMR spectroscopy
  3. EPR Spectroscopy
  4. Mossbauer spectroscopy
  5. SQUID magnetometry
  6. Cyclic voltammetry

IX.  Organometallic reaction mechanisms (Chapter 14)

  1. General reaction steps – oxidative addition, reductive elimination, metathesis, insertion, elimination (Chapter 14.1-14.2)
  2. Cross-coupling reactions (Chapter 14.1.3)
  3. Hydrogenation/hydrosilylation (Chapter 14.3.4)
  4. Hydroformylation (Chapter 14.3.2)
  5. Olefin polymerization (Chapter 14.4.1)
  6. Olefin metathesis (Chapter 14.3.6)
  7. Fundamental transformations related to renewable energy applications

X.  Bioinorganic chemistry (Chapter 16)

  1. Roles of metals in enzymatic catalysis
  2. Metals in medicine

Grading

Undergraduates

10% problem sets

15% computational project

20% exam #1

20% exam #2

35% final exam

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 Wednesday 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 Oct 5-9, and the week of Nov 9-13)

·  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 independent-inquiry 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

·  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.

·  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 extenuating circumstances that might require laptop use or if you have compelling reasons to think that note-taking on a tablet or computer would be in your best interest, 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, it may be confiscated.

·  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%).

·  Regrades

-Given the small impact of problem sets on the overall grade for this course, no requests for regrades involving anything smaller than 10% of the overall problem set score will be accepted.

-A written request (e-mail is OK) for regrading of an exam must be submitted directly to the instructor within 1 week after the original graded document was returned. Keep in mind that the ENTIRE exam will be regraded, not just a single problem.

·  Disabilities

- If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me during the first week of the semester.

-Arrangements to fulfill special needs cannot be requested and made retroactively, except if the official record of disability is created during the semester.

·  Academic Integrity

- Academic dishonesty is a serious academic offense at Brandeis University and may lead to severe academic penalties. Each student in this course is expected to abide by the Brandeis Students Rights and Community Standards (http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/sdc) Handbook on Rights and Responsibilities (Section 4).

-Any work submitted by a student for academic credit must be the student’s own work.

-The instructor maintains a zero tolerance policy, meaning that even a first offense will result in a “0” grade for the assignment/exam for all students involved and immediate referral to the Brandeis Student Rights and Community Standards Office.