AsF5 - a superacid for super review!

Submitted by James F. Dunne / Central College on Fri, 02/21/2025 - 13:02
Description

This LO was developed as a review activity for the end of the semester.  Students are required to touch on a wide range of topics including acid-base theories, crystal systems, point groups, the spectrochemical series, and 19F NMR spectroscopy.  A close reading of the paper is required helping to build student comprehension of the literature.

Flipping Cobalt Spin States

Submitted by James F. Dunne / Central College on Fri, 02/21/2025 - 12:01
Description

This activity was designed to assess student comprehension of how changes in pi-donation from ligands can affect both crystal field splitting and metal spin states.  The activity requires students to practice electron counting, idealized crystal field splitting, and then apply these concepts to explain the observed change from low to high spin caused by the loss of a proton.

Eight Coordinate Zirconium?

Submitted by James F. Dunne / Central College on Fri, 02/21/2025 - 11:43
Description

This discussion is intended as a brief application of symmetry and ligand coordination to a novel Zr compound. Students apply VSEPR and molecular symmetry to an uncommon organometallic compound, and apply the coordination mode to basic reactivity. It is intended for an in-class activity but could easily be assigned as a short homework assignment.

Exploring the Electronegativity and Hardness of the Noble Gases

Submitted by James F. Dunne / Central College on Fri, 02/21/2025 - 11:15
Description

This is a literature discussion focused on calculating and comparing the Mulliken electronegativites of the noble gases. Students can explore how this periodic property extends into the noble gases and impacts the observed reactivity of Group 18 compounds.  The discussion could be used either as an in-class activity or a homework assignment.

Replace the Orbitron
Description

There are several LO's on the site that use the Orbitron which unfortunately is no longer available. Here is another option that should allow use of those LO's.

Chip Nataro / Lafayette College Mon, 02/10/2025 - 10:19
Coordination Bonding with Main Group Metals(?)
Description

This Literature Discussion considers the synthesis of the first carbene-bismuthinidene complex by Gilliard and coworkers in 2019. This molecule serves as an illustration of different bonding models, as it can be described by multiple resonance structures invoking fully covalent, zwitterionic, and coordinate/dative bonding forms. Students analyze these resonance structures and their geometrical implications, then compare to the experimental structural evidence to come to a conclusion about which bonding model(s) best describe this molecule!

A. M. Christianson / Bellarmine University Wed, 12/11/2024 - 10:19

Post-Exam Reflection

Submitted by Chris Whitehead / Union College on Fri, 12/06/2024 - 13:45
Description

This activity is a post-exam reflection that is adapted from the Exam Wrappers created by Marsha Lovett at Carnegie Mellon University. The activity has the students build metacognition skills by analyzing their exam preparation and performance. Then, students work to identify how each of their study strategies had a positive or negative impact to their performance. Finally, they outline a plan for how they will prepare for future exams. If the student would like, these reflections and plans are then discussed with the instructor in 1-on-1 meetings. 

SLiThEr #62: Applying to PhD Chemistry Programs

Submitted by Sarah Shaner / Southeast Missouri State University on Mon, 11/04/2024 - 18:30
Description

John Anderson (UChicago), Jenny Yang (UC Irvine), and Ian Tonks (UMN) discuss their perspectives on applying to graduate school