This activity is designed to give students a deeper understanding of what post-translational modification does in a metalloenzyme using nitrile hydratase (NHase) as a model system. The metallo-active site of NHase contains a cobalt(III) center that is bound to an unusual coodination sphere containing bis-amidate, cysteinate, sulfenate (RSO-), and sulfinate (RSO2-) ligands.
Students are asked to read an article detailing the development of a cobalt-based MRI contrast agent ("A Redox-Activated MRI Contrast Agent that Switches Between Paramagnetic and Diamagnetic States", Tsitovich, P. B.; Spernyak, J. A.; Morrow, J. R. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 14247-14250, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201306394). Before coming to class the students are asked to answer a series of questions designed to guide them through the first half of the article, and to be prepared to discuss their answers in class.
The students will write a paper in which they analyze the Vitamin B12 co-enzyme from biological, chemical and biochemical perspectives, and will use the guided questions to help show the relevance of an organometallic chemistry experiment to real biochemical systems. This activity is based on a synthetic lab experiment that students would have performed on transition metal-carbon bonds in biology and chemistry (The lab experiment was adapted from third edition of “Inorganic Experiments” by Derek Woollins).
This in-class activity is to introduce the pairing of diatomic MO diagrams and photoelectron spectroscopy (PES). I will be testing this out in the fall, and will post how it goes.
The Diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii is very resilient. It thrives in poor quality water, where high CO2 levels, chlorine and cadmium ion concentrations, and pH are observed. How is it possible for cadmium ions to be a nutrient for this diatom, when it is normally seen as a toxin in biological systems?
This LO introduces students to bioinorganic chemistry using the enzyme carbonic anhydrase to illustrate biodiversity, adaptation, HASB theory, metal ion ligand bonding as represented by the PDB using Ligand Explorer, and more.
31-P NMR spectrum of alpha-dodecatungstophosphoric acid is a combination of thirteen spectra, each spectrum representing the compound with a different number of 183W isotopes per molecule. In order to fully interpret the spectrum one needs to apply binomial distribution to calculate the mole fractions of the molecules with various numbers of 183W isotopes.
This LO requires an understanding of the satellites concept in NMR spectroscopy, originating from coupling with nuclei whose NMR active isotopes are not 100% abundant.
This is an in-class assignment designed to help students integrate their understanding of periodic trends and materials properties. Using the color of alum crystals as an example of octahedral coordination chemistry, students use their knowledge of electronic structure and periodic trends to predict which of the isomorphous alum crystals will be colored, and to qualtitatively rank the degree of crystal field splitting in a family of alum crystals.
This is the second part of a two-day class discussion on molecular and inorganic spectroscopy. In this activity, upper level students learn about spectroscopic tecniques used in inorganic chemistry and then devise an experiment to follow the progress of a hypothetical reaction. The activity also prepares students for the inorganic laboratory "Linkage isomerism of nitrogen dioxide" in which infrared spectroscopy is used to monitor changes to the N-O vibrational stretch upon coordination to a metal.
Nicolai Lehnert's group recently shared this video they made for the Penn State Bioinorganic Workshops on Youtube. This is a great practical demonstration of how MCD data is actually collected.
Anne asked the students in her 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. Each student chose one article from a list of suggestions provided. Student Hayley Johnston chose this article describing a Mn-containing catalyst for carbon dioxide reduction (Jonathan M. Smieja, Matthew D. Sampson, Kyle A. Grice, Eric E. Benson, Jesse D. Froehlich, and Clifford P.