Literature Discussion Group Project
Description

This is a literature-based end of semester project.  After a semester of introducing literature in the form of typical literature discussions, this assignment is given to small groups.  It may be easily amended or added to.  Each group is provided with a paper and accompanying questions that are similar to the literature discussions they have done over the semester.  They then must use these guiding questions to assemble a presentation to the class.  The topics chosen and the guiding questions are designed to provide students with a taste of the many areas of inorganic chemistry that are no

Wes Farrell / United States Naval Academy Mon, 08/05/2024 - 14:23

Catalytic dechlorination of PVC

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Wed, 07/24/2024 - 08:18
Description

This LO was inspired by a talk that Megan Fieser gave at the 2024 Organometallic Chemistry Gordon Research Conference. It was an excellent talk with some really interesting chemistry. Wanting something with practical application for my class focused on organometallic chemistry, I looked at one of her 'older' papers and found this really interesting rhodium catalyst. In the main paper for this LO (Mater. Horiz. 202310, 2047), the catalytic dechlorination of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) using a rhodium pincer complex is described.

Literature discussion for “Synthesis and characterization of a formal 21-electron cobaltocene derivative.”
Description

This is a literature discussion regarding electron counting.  It involves several opportunities for students to use CBC to determine electron counts themselves.  Then, it demonstrates the first case of a 21-electron complex, which leads to great discussion regarding the 18-electron rule.  Throughout the discussion, students are introduced to many structural and spectrochemical analyses, some of which may be new to them.

Wes Farrell / United States Naval Academy Wed, 05/15/2024 - 14:34

Theoretical Analysis of Fe K-edge XANES on Iron Pentacarbonyl

Submitted by Prajay Patel / University of Dallas on Tue, 04/30/2024 - 15:01
Description

This article focuses on a theoretical analysis of K-edge X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) of Fe(CO)5 in the D3h and C4v geometries. For the context of a one semester inorganic chemistry / physical inorganic chemistry course, the authors use computational methods and experimental X-ray techniques to generate the XANES spectra of two different geometries of Fe(CO)5. Densities of states are used to show overlap between specific orbitals (Fe p with C p), indicating pi-backbonding.

SLiThEr #59: Inclusive leadership - Your role in creating cultures of belonging
Description

Marilyn Mackiewicz (Oregon State University) is the 2020 awardee of the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences from the ACS. Her unique story and experiences are presented, along with how faculty can make their spaces and themselves more welcoming.

Chip Nataro / Lafayette College Fri, 04/05/2024 - 15:38

Orca Computational Chemistry Tutorials (Neese)

Submitted by Amanda Reig / Ursinus College on Thu, 04/04/2024 - 13:53
Description

Frank Neese was honored with the 2024 ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry for outstanding accomplishments in combining high-level theory with experiment to obtain insight into the properties and reactivities of transition-metal complexes and metalloenzymes. 

His major contributions to the field have been through the development and dissemination of his free computational modeling software program ORCA, which is used by thousands of researchers across the fields of inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry.

Energetics of Formate Adsorption on Cu(111) by Calorimetry (Campbell)
Description

This literature discussion LO was created for the ACS National Award Winners 2024 collection. Dr. Charles Campbell was the recipient of the 2024 Gabor A. Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis. This LO is based on the article "Energetics of Adsorbed Formate and Formic Acid on Cu(111) by Calorimetry,” (ACS Catal.

Nicole Crowder / University of Mary Washington Fri, 03/15/2024 - 18:45

The elusive tetrabenzylthorium compound (Bart)

Submitted by Joanne Stewart / Hope College on Thu, 03/14/2024 - 20:09
Description

This literature discussion learning object describes the isolation and structure of tetrabenzylthorium, a molecule that was synthesized many years ago but was never thoroughly characterized.

1FLO: Introduction to Borylene Ligands (Braunschweig)
Description

This literature discussion LO was created for the ACS National Award Winners 2024 collection. Dr. Holger Braunschweig was the recipient of the 2024 M. Frederick Hawthorne Award in Main Group Inorganic Chemistry. This LO is based on a figure from the article "Transition metal borylene complexes" published in Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 3197. DOI: 10.1039/c3cs35510a.

Shirley Lin / United States Naval Academy Thu, 03/14/2024 - 09:55