Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
Chem 342Miessler & Tarr, 4th
edition
Syllabus
• Goals & Objectives• Textbook (bring to class)• Attendance & Grading
2 take-home exams + final (55%)homework (15%)literature presentation (10%)literature exam (15%)participation (5%)
Course Content
• Chapters 1-5 (bonding theories)Chapter 6, Acid-Base & Donor-Acceptor TheoryChapters 9, 10, 12 (coordination chemistry)
Chapter 11, Coord Chem: Electronic Spectra Chapters 13, 14 (organometallic chemistry)Chapter 16, Bioinorganic & Environmental Chem
Experimental Methods in Inorganic Chemistry Nanochemistry; noncovalent interactions
Chapter 1 - Intro to Inorganic• What is it?• Sub-fields:
main-group, coordination chemistry, organometallic, bioinorganic, physical inorganic, heavy-metals, trans-uranium……..
• How does it compare to Organic Chemistry?• Compounds with single, double, triple bonds• Inorganic compounds can contain quadruple
bonds (sigma + pi + pi + delta bond)[Cl4Re≡ReCl4]2–
• Carbon: maximum number of connections = 4• Inorganic: carbon is found in carbon
cluster compounds, in bridging alkyl groups
Chapter 1 - Intro to Inorganic• Organic: H is a terminal atom, only bonds to
one other element. Inorganic: The same rules do not apply. Lewis structure of B2H6?
• Organic: Limited geometries (linear, trigonal planar, tetrahedral, bent). Inorganic: Also square planar, trigonal bipyramid, octahedral, and more
• Inorganic also has aromatic compounds (borazine B3N3H6)
History of Inorganic Chemistry• Ancient times through Alchemy:
– Descriptive chemistry, techniques, minerals (Cu compounds), glasses, glazes, gunpowder
• 17th Century– Mineral acids (HCl, HNO3, H2SO4), salts and their
reactions, acid and bases– Quantitative work became important, molar mass,
gases, volumes– 1869: The periodic table
• Late 1800s: Chemical Industry – Isolate, refine, purify metals and compounds
• 1896: Discovery of Radioactivity– Atomic structure, quantum mechanics, nuclear
chemistry (through early 20th century)
History of Inorganic Chemistry• 20th Century
– Coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry– WWII & Military projects: Manhattan project, jet fuels
(boron compounds)
• 1950s– Crystal field theory, ligand field theory, molecular
orbital theory
• 1955– Organometallic catalysis of organic reaction
(polymerization of ethylene)
• Modern Issues– Bioinorganic chemistry (nitrogen fixation), modeling
biochemical process, enzymes, x-ray crystallography,– nanochemistry, manipulation of noncovalent
interactions
Take a Look
• Literature taken from Inorganic Chemistry
• Take a quick look:What are the sub-fields?What do you recognize, understand?What looks foreign?