I used this paper to illustrate several course concepts related to materials structure (crystal lattice structure, coordination number, crystal field theory and orbital splitting, symmetry, electronic spectra, allowed and forbidden transitions). This activity was paired with a laboratory experiment (see related VIPEr objects) in which students synthesized Prussian Blue, and gave students a really in-depth look at what was going on when they mixed those solutions together.

I asked the students in my junior/senior inorganic course to develop their own literature discussion learning objects and lead the rest of the class in a discussion of their article.  Student Johann Maradiaga chose this article describing the synthesis and characterization of Fe₂GeS₄ nanocrystals with potential applications in photovoltaic devices (Sarah J. Fredrick and Amy L. Prieto, “Solution Synthesis and Reactivity of Colloidal Fe₂GeS₄: A Potential Candidate for Earth Abundant, Nanostructured Photovoltaics” J. Am. Chem.

In this literature discussion, students read a paper about a cobalt metallopeptide that imitates the active site of the enzyme nitrile hydratase.  Specifically, the model complex is oxidized by air to produce a coordination sphere with both cysteine thiolate and sulfinic acid ligands, much like the post-translationally oxidized cysteine ligands in the biological system.

This is a literature discussion based on the paper “Spectroscopic Elucidation of the Inhibitory Mechanism of Cys2