This course covers fundamentals of central topics in inorganic chemistry from historical to modern-day perspectives.  Topics include: coordination compounds (history, structure, bonding theories, reactivity, applications); solid state chemistry (crystals, lattices, radius ratio rule, defect structures, silicates & other minerals); and descriptive chemistry of the elements.

This lecture course will introduce students to the interdependence of chemical bonding, spectroscopic characteristics, and reactivity properties of coordination compounds and complexes using the fundamental concept of symmetry.  After reviewing atomic structure, the chemical bond, and molecular structure, the principles of coordination chemistry will be introduced.   A basic familiarity with symmetry will be formalized by an introduction to the elements of symmetry and group theory.  The students will use symmetry and group theory approaches to understand central atom hybridization, ligand

This course introduces the chemistry of transition metals and main group elements. Topics include theories of bonding, kinetics and mechanisms of reactions of transition metal complexes, oxidation-reduction reactions, hard-soft acid-base theory, and solid-state chemistry. Applications of inorganic chemistry to other areas (organic, analytical, and physical chemistry, as well as biology and biochemistry) are highlighted throughout the course. The laboratory portion of the course involves the synthesis and spectroscopic investigation of inorganic complexes.