Metal-Ligand Multiple Bonds and Frustrated Lewis Pairs

Submitted by Matt Whited / Carleton College on Wed, 10/10/2012 - 14:40
Description

This is a literature-based activity that focuses on a review I recently published as part of a thematic series on C-H activation.

The review highlights similarities between the newly discovered frustrated Lewis pairs and polarized metal-ligand multiple bonds.  There are many ways to use the review, but the attached set of questions focuses on drawing analogies among seemingly diverse types of reactivity using frontier-molecular-orbital considerations.

Electrocatalysis and Proton Reduction

Submitted by Matt Whited / Carleton College on Thu, 07/19/2012 - 16:46
Description

These slides provide a brief introduction to the concept of electrocatalysis using the glyoximato cobalt catalysts for hydrogen production recently examined by Peters, Gray, and others.  They provide a suitable introduction to the topic for students interested in reading the primary literature on these topics.

Colored Note Cards as a Quick and Cheap Substitute for Clickers

Submitted by Chris Bradley / Mount St. Mary's University on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 10:23
Description

For many years I have resisted using clickers, mainly because at our university there is no standard universal clicker. I wanted to keep student costs as low as possible but also desired the type of live feedback during a lecture that clicker questions can provide. In both my general chem. (200-300 students) and upper division courses (50-75 students), I now pass out 4 or 5 colored notecards on the first day of class and make sure everyone has one of each color.

Solubility and the Need for Bioinorganic Metal Ion Transport and Storage

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 09:42
Description

 

This is an in class exercise that I use to emphasize the need for metal ion transport and storage in biochemistry.  Applying the Van't Hoff equation to the Ksp value at 25°C for ferric hydroxide, students calculate the iron concentration at which ferric hydroxide would begin to precipitate out in the blood.  It' s an interesting problem that requires very little math beyond that used in gen chem, and the answer is in stark contrast to the amount of iron that we actually store in our bodies.  

How does changing solvent affect redox potential?

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 11:32
Description

There are three ways to modulate the redox potential of a metalloenzyme:  Changing ligands, changing geometry, and changing solvent. When I introduce this topic in Bioinorganic, I try to give my students concrete examples of each.  I love this one because it applies what they learned in Gen Chem about the Nernst Equation to a biological problem.  Granted, I don't use a metalloenzyme as my example, but I do pull the biological chemistry into it at the end, by referrring to the cytochrome oxidase/O2 couple.  

Hard-Soft Acid-Base Theory in Action: A New Ion-Exchange Material for Sequestering Heavy Metals

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Sun, 06/26/2011 - 00:30
Description

This paper from Chemistry: A European Journal by Manolis Manos and Mercouri Kanatzidis (link provided below in Web Resources) describes the ion-exchange chemistry of a layered sulfide (KMS-1) that exhibits an enhanced preference for soft metal cations (Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+) replacing K+ in between the metal sulfide layers of KMS-1.  Not only does this paper provide a practical application of hard-soft acid-base theory (HSAB), but it provides an accessible introduction to the technical literature for undergraduates, par

Exploring Photographic Chemistry

Submitted by Rebecca M. Jones / George Mason University on Wed, 03/09/2011 - 15:27
Description
This set of experiments is a fun way for students to be experience interesting redox chemistry.  I have taught this series of experiments in my first semester junior level inorganic class for the past 5 years.  In part 1, students create salted paper prints with different binders.  Part 2 involves the synthesis of Prussian blue as cyanotypes are formed on paper and cloth.  In part 3, students design t

Synthesis and characterization of 12-tungstosilicic acid - a modification

Submitted by Randall Hicks / Reed College on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 23:25
Description
This lab experiment is an update on the synthesis of the title acid. An account of this synthesis can be found in William Jolly's book, The Synthesis and Characterization of Inorganic Compounds. The synthetic procedure is reliable and was retained. However, I modified some content and added components to extend to a two-week experiment. This lab now covers the synthesis, an acid-base titration with error analysis, and the use of TGA to complement the titration results.

Inorganic Chemistry of Organ Pipes: Composition and Corrosion

Submitted by Catherine Oertel / Oberlin College on Thu, 09/30/2010 - 14:46
Description

This presentation provides an inorganic chemist's perspective on metals used to make organ pipes and their corrosion and conservation.  The slides highlight my own research in this area as well as work being done by other scientists around the world.  The purpose of this learning object is to show students an application of inorganic chemistry that they probably have not encountered before and show an example of how analytical methods of materials chemistry can be used in conservation science.   

Battery in class activity

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Wed, 05/26/2010 - 13:10
Description

This is an in-class exercise to be used at the end of General Chemistry (II).  I use it as a capstone exercise at the end of my second semester genchem course, but it would also make an excellent introductory review exercise at the beginning of a junior level inorganic course.  It provides an excellent review of topics from the entire semester (electrochemistry, acid-base, thermodynamics, colligative properties, solution chemistry and calculations) and shows how they are inter-related in a real world application (a car battery).

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