Artificial Photosynthesis Using Quantum Dot / Porphyrin Aggregates (Weiss)

Submitted by Anne Bentley / Lewis & Clark College on Sun, 03/28/2021 - 14:17
Description

This literature discussion highlights recent research from the Weiss group in which electrostatically assembled aggregates of CuInS2 / ZnS quantum dots and trimethylamino-functionalized tetraphenylporphyrin molecules were used to selectively reduce carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide.

National ACS Award Winners 2021 LO Collection

Submitted by Shirley Lin / United States Naval Academy on Fri, 03/26/2021 - 12:14

This collection of learning objects was created to celebrate the National ACS Award Winners 2021 who are members of the Division of Inorganic Chemistry. The list of award winners is shown below. 

reaction of PPh3 with elements--the COVID edition

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Sun, 02/28/2021 - 15:37
Description

This is a research-like laboratory experience based on the one posted by Brad Wile (linked below). My students are mostly juniors and have had 2 semesters of organic. This spring they are taking the inorganic laboratory virtually, so I wanted to give them a more exploratory lab experience. Their job will be to watch the YouTube videos to see the synthesis and isolated products, and then propose characterization methods they want to employ to identify both the identity and purity of the compounds. 

Development of Expanded Porphyrins (Sessler)

Submitted by Shirley Lin / United States Naval Academy on Wed, 02/24/2021 - 09:24
Description

The LO focuses upon classic articles describing the synthesis and characterization of the first "texaphyrin" compounds.

This LO is part of a special VIPEr collection honoring the 2021 ACS National Award recipients in the field of inorganic chemistry. Jonathan L. Sessler was the recipient of the Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry for the discovery of expanded porphyrins, molecular recognition via base-pairing, pyrrole-based anion binding, and demonstrating the power of this biomimetic chemistry in drug discovery.

The Organometallic Chemistry Behind the Polymer of Squares (Chirik)

Submitted by Megan Mohadjer Beromi / United States Naval Academy on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 12:34
Description

The discussion covers a 2021 publication by the Chirik group (Nature Chemistry, 2021, DOI: 10.1038/s41557-020-00614-w) which details the discovery of a new way to polymerize butadiene through iron-catalyzed [2+2] cycloadd

Delta and Phi Bonding in Actinide Complexes

Submitted by Anne Bentley / Lewis & Clark College on Sun, 10/25/2020 - 13:28
Description

This article provides an entry point for students to apply their knowledge of electron configurations and molecular orbital theory to the lanthanide and actinide elements. We have provided a large number of possible questions to use, grouped by theme.  Instructors can pick and choose questions that best fit their course.

Luminescence Properties of a Dysprosium(III) Complex

Submitted by Amanda Bowman / Colorado College on Thu, 10/08/2020 - 18:15
Description

This literature discussion explores the physical structure, electronic structure, and luminescent properties of a lanthanide coordination complex (dysprosium) through discussion of “Synthesis, Structure, Photoluminescence, and Electroluminescence Properties of a New Dysprosium Complex,” Li et al. J. Phys. Chem.

Jahn-Teller effect, theory and examples

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Thu, 08/06/2020 - 18:44
Description

At a recent SLiThEr workshop, a request was put out for an introduction to the Jahn-Teller effect. I had already prepared several slides showcasing single crystal X-ray data for my class this spring so I put this together with some additional examples from my lab and the literature.  Single crystal XRD data is presented to support the claims.

A cobalt hydroformylation catalyst tribute to Malcolm Green

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Mon, 07/27/2020 - 20:00
Description

In this paper (Llewellyn, Green and Cowley, Dalton Trans. 2006, 4164-4168) the synthesis and characterization of two cobalt compounds with an N-heterocyclic carbene ligand (IMes) are reported. the first, [Co(CO)3(IMes)Me] was prepared by the reaction of [Co(CO)3(PPh3)Me] with IMes. The second compound, [Co(CO)3(IMes)COMe] is formed by the addition of Co to the first.

Crystal Field Activation Energy Exploration

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Sat, 06/13/2020 - 19:30
Description

I have long taught CFAE as a topic in my inorganic class, but only over the last 3-5 years has the concept really solidified with me. I think this exercise really does a good job explaining that even a simple theory can have predictive power. I have not seen this analysis in a textbook. Lots of books discuss CFAE and its impact on rate, but taking it to the next step and benchmarking it on real data and ∆o values, I have not seen. Maybe it is because I am not a kineticist and don’t see the “obvious” implications of this.