This is a powerpoint presentation that was developed for and used at the 2016 VIPEr workshop on Organometallic chemistry at the University of Michigan. Organometallic chemistry is a broad field, and we have divided ourselves into different classes based on what we study. For example, the reactivity of the third row metals is often quite different from that of the fourth/fifth rows. Early (high oxidation state with anionic ligands typically) and Late (low oxidation state with neutral ligands typically) metal complexes have different properties and d electron counts.

Many extended structures can be viewed as close-packed layers of large anions, with the smaller cations fitting in between the anions. Larger holes between close-packed anions can hold cations with octahedral coordination. Smaller holes between close-packed anions can hold cations with tetrahedral coordination. The online jsmol resources show these layers and their holes.

This activity introduces students to fundamental types of organometallic reactions, and directs them to examine how each of these reactions affects the total electron count for the organometallic complex and the oxidation state of the central metal.  Students are then directed to use these reactions to build a sequence of steps for a catalytic cycle.

The goal of this activity is to have students calculate the empirical formula of a compound given the contents of a unit cell. 

A repeating building block, or unit cell, is used to represent extended structures since shifting a unit cell along its edges by the length of the edge will exactly replicate the extended structure.

In this in-class activity, students will determine the formal oxidation state of transition metal complexes by performing bonding type analysis of ligand−metal bonds. This in-class project is intended for those with little background in inorganic chemistry and aims to provide simple methods to calculate the formal charge of transition metals through bond-type analysis. While there are more sophisticated models already available to assign transition metal oxidation states, such as the LXZ (CBC) model, this exercise is intended for students who are coordination chemistry novices.

This is a worksheet for students to complete in class to practice nomenclature of coordination compounds. It may alternatively be assigned as homework after a lesson on nomenclature. Includes examples of Ewing-Bassett system as well as Stock system.