Standard syllabus
Coordination chemistry · Undergraduate · Chemistry
Topics
Bonding and electronic structure
- Werner's coordination theory and coordination number
- Ligand classification: monodentate, bidentate, polydentate, chelates
- Crystal field theory: d-orbital splitting in octahedral and tetrahedral fields
- Ligand field theory and molecular orbital approach
- Strong-field vs weak-field ligands and spectrochemical series
- High-spin vs low-spin configurations
- Jahn–Teller distortions in d⁴, d⁷, d⁹ complexes
- 18-electron rule in coordination and organometallic compounds
- Metal–ligand covalency and nephelauxetic effect
- Trends across the transition series
Structure and isomerism
- Common geometries: octahedral, tetrahedral, square planar, linear
- Coordination nomenclature (IUPAC)
- Structural isomerism: ionization, linkage, coordination isomers
- Stereoisomerism: cis-trans, fac-mer, optical isomerism
- Chirality in octahedral complexes with bidentate ligands
- Square planar complexes and trans influence
- Cluster compounds and metal–metal bonds (introduction)
- Supramolecular coordination assemblies
- X-ray crystallography for structure determination
- Predicting geometry from d-electron count and ligand type
Spectroscopy and magnetism
- Electronic (UV-Vis) spectra: d-d transitions and charge transfer
- Selection rules for d-d transitions: Laporte and spin selection
- Tanabe–Sugano diagrams for octahedral complexes
- IR and Raman spectroscopy of metal–ligand vibrations
- EPR spectroscopy for paramagnetic complexes
- Magnetic susceptibility and spin-only moment
- Ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism in solids (intro)
- Mössbauer spectroscopy for iron complexes (overview)
- NMR of paramagnetic complexes (overview)
- Correlating spectra with electronic structure
Stability and reactions
- Thermodynamic stability: formation constants
- Chelate effect and macrocyclic effect
- Kinetic stability: labile vs inert complexes
- Substitution mechanisms: associative and dissociative pathways
- Trans effect and synthesis planning
- Redox reactions of coordination complexes
- Inner-sphere vs outer-sphere electron transfer
- Photochemistry of coordination compounds
- Catalysis by coordination complexes (overview)
- Bioinorganic examples: hemoglobin, vitamin B₁₂, cisplatin
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