Electronic structure

25 Jul 2019

1FLO: One Figure Learning Objects

Submitted by Chip Nataro, Lafayette College
Course Level: 
First year
Second year
Upper Division
Subdiscipline: 
Coordination Chemistry
Electrochemistry
f-block Chemistry
Molecular Structure and Bonding
Organometallic Chemistry
Spectroscopy and Structural Methods
Topics Covered: 
Acid-base chemistry
Bonding models: Discrete molecules
Catalysis
Chemical literature
Coordination chemistry
Electron transfer
Electronic spectroscopy
Electronic structure
f-block chemistry
Group theory & applications
Kinetics
Molecular structure
Organometallic chemistry
Physical methods / analytical techniques
Symmetry
Synthesis and reactivity
Corequisites: 
No Corequisites
Prerequisites: 
First Semester Inorganic Chemistry / Foundation Course in Inorganic Chemistry
General Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
27 Jun 2019

Porphyrin-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks

Submitted by Amanda Bowman, Colorado College
Evaluation Methods: 

Students completed this activity in small groups, then turned in individual worksheets. Student learning and performance were assessed through 1) in-class group discussion after they had worked on the activity in small groups, and 2) grading the individual worksheets. Participation was most important in the small-group portion.

Evaluation Results: 

In general, students really enjoyed this exercise and felt that it was helpful for visualizing metal-organic frameworks (particularly the extended 3D structure). They also generally felt that it was helpful in visualizing the bonding sites of metal vertices, particularly for thinking about how that influences potential reactivity. We used Mercury as a visualization software for this discussion, and the majority of students felt very comfortable using Mercury and looking at cifs on their own after this activity.

 

The biggest challenge for students seemed to be in relating the 3D structure in the cif to the images and chemicals formulas in the article. They also tended to need some hints about question 5 – to think about what information Mössbauer can provide about oxidation state of the metal, or that you can tell whether or not there are two distinct iron environments. In our class, we do brief units on X-ray crystallography including how to use and interpret cifs, and Mössbauer spectroscopy before this literature discussion. If those topics are not already addressed in a particular class it might be helpful to add them in or directly address those topics for the students as an introduction to the literature discussion.

Description: 

This literature discussion explores the physical structures, electronic structures, and spectroscopic characterization of several porphyrin-based metal-organic frameworks through discussion of “Iron and Porphyrin Metal−Organic Frameworks: Insight into Structural Diversity, Stability, and Porosity,” Fateeva et al. Cryst. Growth Des. 2015, 15, 1819-1826, http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1021/cg501855k. The activity gives students experience visualizing and interpreting MOF structures, and gives students exposure to some of the methods used to characterize MOFs.

Prerequisites: 
First Semester Inorganic Chemistry / Foundation Course in Inorganic Chemistry
General Chemistry
Corequisites: 
No Corequisites
Topics Covered: 
Chemical literature
Coordination chemistry
Diffraction
Electronic structure
Extended structure
Physical methods / analytical techniques
Solids & solid state chemistry
Course Level: 
Upper Division
Learning Goals: 

Students will be able to:

  • Interpret and describe the bonding and structural characteristics of MOFs
  • Apply knowledge of ligand field strength to electronic structure of MOFs
  • Analyze X-ray crystallographic data to gain information about structural characteristics of MOFs
  • Interpret Mössbauer spectra to gain information about electronic structure of MOFs
Subdiscipline: 
Coordination Chemistry
Solid State and Materials Chemistry
Spectroscopy and Structural Methods
Related activities: 
Energy Nuggets: MOF’s for CO<sub>2</sub> Sequestration
Implementation Notes: 

This literature discussion was designed for use in an advanced (upper-level) inorganic chemistry course, but could be used in a foundational inorganic course if students have already been introduced to d-splitting diagrams and are given some coverage of Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. When covering MOFs in class, students frequently expressed that visualizing and understanding the bonding sites and extended 3D structures was very challenging. So, this literature discussion was developed specifically to address that. Students completed this activity in small groups. It is very helpful to advise students ahead of time to bring laptops (or instructor should have some available) and to have the cifs from the paper downloaded and ready to go. We used Mercury as a visualization software for this activity. This activity can easily be completed in one class period. It is also helpful if students have been provided with the article ahead of time and encouraged to look it over – otherwise the most time-consuming part of this activity was allowing time for students to examine the MOF structure images in the paper before being able to discuss and answer the questions with their groups.

Note on visualization of MOFs using Mercury: To answer the discussion questions, we used the ‘stick’ or the ‘ball and stick’ style. We also used the default packing scheme (0.4x0.4x0.4) and the 1x1x1 packing scheme. The packing scheme can be changed by selecting Packing/Slicing… in the Calculate menu. I also had students view the 3x3x3 packing scheme – while this is not necessary to answer the discussion questions, it was interesting for students to be able to visualize the extended structure of the MOFs.

 

Web Resources: 
Iron and Porphyrin Metal−Organic Frameworks: Insight into Structural Diversity, Stability, and Porosity. Fateeva et al

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