Collaborative Point Group "Escape Room" Competition

Submitted by Joya Cooley / California State University, Fullerton on Tue, 08/08/2023 - 19:29
Description

This is a digital "escape room" where students determine point groups of molecules and answer follow-up questions to determine four digits. The four digits can be used to unlock a physical lockbox which is brought to class with small prizes inside.

1FLO: Perhalogenated Carba-closo-dodecaborate Anions as Ligand Substituents: Applications in Gold Catalysis

Submitted by Megan Mohadjer Beromi / United States Naval Academy on Mon, 06/27/2022 - 19:58
Description

This 1FLO focuses on the fundamentals of catalysis and the interpretation of catalytic data. The questions guide students through the definition of catalysts, turnover frequency, turnover number, and require the students to extract information from a table of catalytic data. The data set comes from the unprecedented activity of carba-closo-dodecaborate ligated gold catalysts in hydroamination reported by Lavallo and coworkers in 2013 (Lavallo, V.; Wright II, J. H.; Tham, F. S.; Quinlivan, S. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 3172.

VIPEr Fellows 2022 Workshop Favorites

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Sun, 06/26/2022 - 14:31

The second cohort of VIPEr fellows pulled together learning objects that they've used and liked or want to try the next time they teach their inorganic courses.

The Organometallic Chemistry Behind the Polymer of Squares (Chirik)

Submitted by Megan Mohadjer Beromi / United States Naval Academy on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 12:34
Description

The discussion covers a 2021 publication by the Chirik group (Nature Chemistry, 2021, DOI: 10.1038/s41557-020-00614-w) which details the discovery of a new way to polymerize butadiene through iron-catalyzed [2+2] cycloadd

Delta and Phi Bonding in Actinide Complexes

Submitted by Anne Bentley / Lewis & Clark College on Sun, 10/25/2020 - 13:28
Description

This article provides an entry point for students to apply their knowledge of electron configurations and molecular orbital theory to the lanthanide and actinide elements. We have provided a large number of possible questions to use, grouped by theme.  Instructors can pick and choose questions that best fit their course.

N-stabilized carbenes and applications in the literature

Submitted by Brad Wile / Ohio Northern University on Mon, 09/07/2020 - 20:51
Description

This literature discussion was based on a short, readable piece from the trade magazine Chemical and Engineering News. Since this was written in a more general tone, it served as a reasonable introduction to carbenes for students in my advanced inorganic class. I have been looking to expand the examples of carbenes presented to students beyond those in the text. Simple examples of Fischer, Schrock, and N-heterocyclic carbenes are plentiful, but modern applications haven't been featured in the text that I use.

Synthesis of Fluorescent Aluminum Complexes

Submitted by Taylor Haynes / California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo on Fri, 08/28/2020 - 15:34
Description

In this experiment, Students synthesize a Schiff Base and the corresponding aluminum complex to measure fluorescence. The lab provides exposure to air-free synthetic techniques, including the use of Schlenk Line techniques and safe handling of sure-seal bottles. Following data collection, students will be able to explain fluorescence spectroscopy and compare it to absorbance spectroscopy.

A copper "Click" catalyst for the synthesis of 1,2,3-triazoles

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Wed, 06/10/2020 - 11:40
Description

This paper (Gayen, F.R.; Ali, A.A.; Bora, D.; Roy, S.; Saha, S.; Saikia, L.; Goswamee, R.L. and Saha, B. Dalton Trans2020, 49, 6578) describes the synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of a copper complex with a ferrocene-containing Schiff base ligand. The article is relatively short but packed with information. However, many of the details that are assumed knowledge in the article make for wonderful questions some of which I hope I have captured.

chromium and molybdenum arene complexes (COVID-19 version)

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Sat, 03/21/2020 - 19:49
Description

April 2021 update: I am in the process of expanding this laboratory and have now recorded videos, linked below, on youtube. There is a video of general air sensitive reaction setup, the synthesis and isolation of the mesitylene and the N,N-diethylaniline derivatives. I also have better quality data which I will add here as well.