Housecroft and Sharpe: Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed

Submitted by Lori Watson / Earlham College on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 20:01
Description

Housecroft and Sharpe (Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed): This is a comprehensive inorganic textbook designed primarily for students at the Junior/Senior level. P-Chem would not be needed as a prerequisite for this text, but would be helpful. It includes both theoretical and descriptive material along with special topics, enough for a two semester course though it is easily adaptable to a one-semester "advanced inorganic" course by choosing only some topics. It is written in a clear and generally readable style and the full-color graphic contribute to student understanding.

Two Communications on Bioinorganic and Coordination Chemistry

Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Fri, 01/04/2008 - 20:39
Description
This assignment would make a good choice for a first attempt at actually having a discussion on primary literature articles since these are two short communications. They also touch on two important applications of coordination chemistry so might be appropriate early in a course, namely modeling biological systems and non-linear optical applications.

copper ammonia complexes

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Fri, 01/04/2008 - 20:11
Description

The reaction chemistry of aqueous copper(II) ions with ammonia is commonly used in both general chemistry and inorganic chemistry texts to illustrate the equilibria of complex ions in solution.  Although the system initially seems simple, further analysis of the chemical species involved shows that it is in fact quite complicated.  First of all, ammonia is a weak base and its basic equilibrium reaction must be taken into account.  Second, although the aquated copper(II) ion is the most prevalent ion in solution before ammonia is added, this species is itself a weak acid.  Third, a series of

student choice experiment

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Fri, 01/04/2008 - 19:26
Description

The students prepare a short proposal outlining their desired target and why they want to make it.  Chemicals are ordered, and during the last 3-4 weeks of the semester, the students carry out their synthesis.  The writeup is as a paper submtited to the journal Inorganic Chemistry using the template from the journal web page.

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