In SLiThEr #39 Chip Nataro (Lafayette University) introduces us to the discussion LOs he uses in his senior-level inorganic course and the topics covered.
My advanced inorganic students often have trouble conceptualizing microstates and term symbols. This exercise is intended to provide a hands-on assembly of microstate models and their combination to form term symbols.
Descriptive chemistry of the main group elements with some emphasis on the non-metals. Transition metal compounds: aspects of bonding, spectra, and reactivity; complexes of n-acceptor ligands; organometallic compounds and their role in catalysis; metals in biological systems; preparative, analytical, and instrumental techniques.
From the course catalog: The chemistry of the Main Group elements and the transition metals are studied with emphasis on the properties, structures, and reactivities of these elements and their compounds.
This Learning Object is dedicated to Prof. Chan as part of the VIPEr LGBTQIAN+ LO collection created in celebration of Pride Month (June) 2022. A profile of Prof. Chan from the Chemical & Engineering News Out and Proud article can be found at
Syllabus for Inorganic Chemistry lecture taught in Spring 2022.
A systematic study of chemical principles as applied to inorganic systems. This class consist of a 3 hour lecture and a 4 hour lab. Special emphasis is placed on group theory and the use of molecular orbital, ligand field, and crystal field theories as tools to understanding the structure and reactivity of inorganic compounds.
This LO is a literature discussion based on one figure in Chan et. al.
This In-Class Activity is meant to follow up discussions of ligand field theory toward the end of MO theory including the effects of sigma donors, pi donors, and pi acceptors, and how it relates to absorption spectra and observed color of some transition metal complexes. Students have learned crystal field theory and the effects of geometry/symmetry on ∆, then we extend to LFT and how the chemistries of different ligands affect ∆.