Brock University - Department of Chemistry

Auxiliary References:

G. Wulfsberg, "Principles of Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry", Brooks/Cole, Monterey, 1987. (on reserve in the library)

G.E. Rogers, Introduction to Coordination, Solid State and Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry, McGraw Hill, 1994.

F.A.Cotton, F. Wilkinson & P.L. Gaus, Basic Inorganic Chemistry 2nd Ed. Wiley.

Lab Manual: Z. Szafran, R.M. Pike, and M.M. Singh, "Microscale Inorganic Chemistry. A Comprehensive Laboratory Experience, John Wiley and Sons, 1991.

A few of the lab procedures will not be microscale, and may include experiments taken from the following texts. Copies will be made available as required.

(i) W.L. Jolly, "The Synthesis and Characterization of Inorganic Compounds", Prentice-Hall, 1970; reprinted by Waveland Press, Inc., 1991.

(ii) G. Pass and H. Sutcliffe, "Practical Inorganic Chemistry", second edition, Chapman and Hall, 1974.

Term test  10%
Labs  20%
Assignments and lecture quizzes 20%
Lab examination (tentative date: lab in 3rd week of Nov.) 10%
Final examination 40%
 
The above marking scheme is subject to the DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON FINAL EXAMINATIONS: A student must achieve a mark of at least 30% in the final examination in order to receive a passing mark in the course.

Also it is department policy that a student must complete the laboratory work satisfactorily (including the required lab reports) in order to receive a passing mark in the course.

Penalty for Late Work:
It is chemistry department policy that late work is penalized 10% for each day that an assignment is late, with no credit given after 5 days or after the material has been returned to students, marked.

The following is a rough guide to how we will progress through the materials in the text.

Week 1-2 - Review of chemical periodicity and chemical bonding types; introduction to microscale chemistry for the lab. MO & band theory, semiconductors. Chapters 1-3

Week  3 -  Physical methods applied to inorganic chemistry (IR, Raman, nmr, and mass spectrometry); isotopes;                              Chapter 3, A7-10, & lab manual, Chapt. 6

Week 4 - Acids and Bases, and Hydrogen Chapter 5, 9

Week 5 - Group I:  metallic and ionic bonding;  organo-group I compounds; The chemistry of main group II, including organometallic chemistry  Chapters 8, 10

Week 6 - Boron: borides, borazoles, boron hydrides, and carboranes. Contrast of boron with the rest of main group 13/III Chapt. 10-11

Week 7 - The chemistry of main group 14/IV: comparison of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb chemistry to carbon chemistry. Fullerenes; diamond synthesis Chapt. 10-11

Week 8 - Silicates, natural and synthetic: energy-efficient methods of silicate synthesis. Start the chemistry of main group 15/V Chapt. 10-12

Week 9 - The chemistry of main group 15/V (continued): contrast of nitrogen chemistry with the chemistry of P, As, Sb, and Bi  Chapt. 10, 12

Week 10 - The chemistry of main group 16/VI:  oxygen vs. S, Se, and Te Chapt. 12

Week 11 - The chemistry of main group 17/VII  Chapt. 13

Week 12 - Rare Gases 18/VIII and Special topics Chapt. 13

Note that the above is just an approximate guide to the course.

Inorganic Nomenclature is summarized on pages A1-A6 in the further information section at the back of the text. Familiarize yourself with the basics.

Students are expected to have e-mail accounts and to check them regularly as some course material will be distributed in this way and some common questions and answers will be distributed by e-mail as well. e-mail to Prof. Miller about the course should have 3P30 in the subject line. We may also begin using Web pages for distribution of materials, so students should familiarize themselves with the use of Netscape on either Macs or PCs.

Please let Prof. Miller know your e-mail address and preference of Mac vs PC. If you have your own computer please indicate its type and your preferred word processor, e.g. MS Word or Word Perfect by filling out the attached.

Name:_____________________________________

e-mail address:______________________________

Computer preference:  Mac ___;       PC(DOS)_____;       PC(Windows)______.

Word Processor preference:  Word______;  WordPerfect________

Do you own a computer:________;   type_______.

Major:_______________                Year___________

Chemistry courses previously taken and approximate marks.

Year 1:______________________________________________

Year 2:_______________________________________________

 ________________________________________________

Year 3: if any taken previously;____________________________

 _________________________________________________

Courses taken this year in term 1 and term 2:

term 1:_________________________________________________

 ___________________________________________________

term 2:__________________________________________________

 ____________________________________________________
 

Revised: Septemeber 1, 1997
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