In this experiment, students will synthesize and characterize one of three Ag(I) cyanoximate complexes as potential antimicrobial agents for use in dental implants. This experiment combines simple ligand synthesis, metalation and characterization, and a biomedical application. The complexes are both air and light stable.
The following is a simple in-class “demonstration” that I use to segue between d to d and charge transfer transitions. After teaching about d to d transitions and Tanabe-Sugano Diagrams, I show my students three solutions that I have put in large test tubes before class. The three solutions I place in the test tubes are:
a. 10 ml of 0.1M Co(H2O)62+
b. 10 ml of 0.1M Cu(H2O)62+
c. 10 ml of a freshly prepared 0.1 M KMnO4 solution
This learning object is based on discussion of the literature, but it follows a paper through the peer review process. Students first read the original submitted draft of a paper to ChemComm that looks at photochemical reduction of methyl viologen using CdSe quantum dots. There are several important themes relating to solar energy storage and the techniques discussed, UV/vis, SEM, TEM, electrochemistry, and catalysis, can be used for students in inorganic chemistry.
Compound Interest is a website that creates infographics for chemistry related events and items. Specific examples of inorganic chemistry infographics include showing how the metal content in colored glass gives the glass its characteristic color, how the lighting of a match works with the conversion of red phosphorus to white phosphorus, and the various colors that transition metals can have in different oxidation states in water, among many other examples.
This lab exercise gives students a problem scenario (a mixture of 4 solids) and asks them to determine a way to separate them from each other utilizing experimentation, previous knowledge, and discussion. Students are expected to write a standard operating procedure detailing the method they determine for the separation at the end of the lab. A modified version of this lab was originally performed in an accelerated summer class on chemistry given to 7th, 8th, and 9th graders that were on a track for early entrance into college. The lab was done over the c
This is the procedure for a Fe(III) catalyzed synthesis of aspirin, an alternative to the traditionally sulfuric acid catalyzed synthesis of aspirin. The prep compares and contrasts the Bronsted acid catalyzed esterification reaction with a Lewis acid iron (III) catalyzed pathway. This can be used in different courses at different levels, but is it written for a general/intro level chemistry course.
This is a resource that has short, animated tutorials on a variety of different topics. Most of the topics are materials science and/or engineering topics but there are several that would be of interest to chemistry students. (A full list of topics is given below.)
The Materials Project is part of the Materials Genome Initiative that uses high-througput computing to uncover the properties of inorganic materials.
It's possible to search for materials and their properties
It employs high-throughput computation approaches and IT to create a system that can be used to predict properties and construct phase diagrams andPourbaix diagrams.
Collection of Safety LOs from VIPEr
The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Standard Reference Databases provides valuable resources. Two resources were specifically mentioned by respondents to the 2013 Inorganic Curriculum Survey: the webbook and the stability constants of metal complexes. Some of the data in the Chemistry WebBook include