SLiThErs - Supporting Learning with Interactive Teaching: a Hosted, Engaging Roundtable

A collection of all of the IONiC VIPEr SLiThErs (Supporting Learning with Interactive Teaching: a Hosted, Engaging Roundtable). These events are short presentations on a topic followed by a period of discussion between the presenter and live participants. Each of these events is recorded and posted to the IONiC VIPEr YouTube Channel.

Chip Nataro / Lafayette College Thu, 12/17/2020 - 14:18

NYT Connections-Style Game for Ligand Classes

Submitted by Emily Mane / Sacred Heart University on Fri, 06/26/2026 - 11:08
Description

This game is modeled after the New York Times (NYT) "Connections" game, in which players are presented with 16 words or phrases and the objective is to sort the words into four groups of four words that are all connected in some way. The game can be done by students individually, in small groups, or even together as a whole class. This game aims to help students practice and/or review the major classes of ligands. In the game, students are presented with 16 ligands, all belonging to four different classes.

NYT Connections-Style Game for Point Groups

Submitted by Emily Mane / Sacred Heart University on Fri, 06/26/2026 - 10:52
Description

This game is modeled after the New York Times (NYT) "Connections" game, in which players are presented with 16 words or phrases and the objective is to sort the words into four groups of four words that are all connected in some way. The game can be done by students individually, in small groups, or even together as a whole class. This game aims to help students practice and/or review assigning point groups to molecules. In the game, students will be presented with 16 molecules, all belonging to four different point groups.

Terminal Iron–Dinitrogen and Iron–Imide Complexes Supported by a Tris(phosphino)borane Ligand (Peters)

Submitted by Shirley Lin / United States Naval Academy on Sat, 02/28/2026 - 09:16
Description

This literature discussion LO was created for the ACS National Award Winners 2026 collection for Dr. Jonas C. Peters, the recipient of the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry. This LO is based on the article "Terminal Iron–Dinitrogen and Iron–Imide Complexes Supported by a Tris(phosphino)borane Ligand" published in Angewandte Chemie Int. Eng.

Si and Ge ferrocenes

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Thu, 02/05/2026 - 17:12
Description

This literature discussion is in honor of the work of Shigeyoshi Inoue, winner of the 2026 Frederic Stanley Kipping Award in Silicon Chemistry for “groundbreaking contributions to the synthesis and reactivity of low-valent silicon compounds, and advancing the potential of silicon in metal-free catalysis and small-molecule activation” (https://cen.acs.org/a

Characterization of group VI carbonyls with bidentate phosphines

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Thu, 01/15/2026 - 14:53
Description

This literature discussion comes from a paper in the Turkish Journal of Chemistry (1999, 23, 9-14) https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/chem/vol23/iss1/2/. In this paper, the authors report spectroscopic data for nine compounds, [M(CO)4(PP)] (M = Cr, Mo or W; PP = dppm, dppe, dppp). This is a very fundamental paper and as such, students are not expected to have had any significant coursework in inorganic chemistry.

Synthesis and Group Theory Analysis of MoO2(acac)2

Submitted by Amanda Reig / Ursinus College on Fri, 11/14/2025 - 12:27
Description

This laboratory experiment is a quick and straightforward synthesis of a MoO2(acac)2 complex. The ligand set allows for two possible geometric arrangements: cis and trans. Using IR spectroscopy along with group theory analysis of the Mo-O stretching modes, students can determine which isomer they formed in their synthesis. NMR spectroscopy is also employed, and confirms the geometric arrangement due to the inequivalence of the acac methyl groups.

1FLO: Addition of H2 to four-coordinate iridium

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Wed, 10/22/2025 - 13:41
Description

This paper (J. Organomet. Chem. 2022, 965-966, 122317) describes the synthesis and reactivity of four-coordinate iridium compound with a tridentate ligand. This ligand is referred to in the paper as a pincer ligand which are a general class of tridentate ligands that coordinate in a mer- arrangement.

2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - MOFs

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Wed, 10/08/2025 - 08:43

In celebration of the 2025 Nobel prize in Chemistry awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yagi, this collection features various LOs about MOFs.

Metallocene cations and anions

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Tue, 09/23/2025 - 11:39
Description

This is a really interesting paper in J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2025, 147, 34641-34646) involving a complex salt in which both the cation and anion are metallocenes. While a majority of the paper is focused on the characterization of two new compounds, it presents some excellent opportunities to practice counting electrons, one of which was a challenge to this author.

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