Inorganic Chemistry

Schlenk line technique is a useful way to handle air- and water-sensitive chemicals. In inorganic chemistry, it is often used when compounds must be kept away from oxygen and moisture. This experiment focuses on simple Schlenk line steps, especially solvent preparation and solvent transfer.

The procedure shows a new, simple method for degassing solvent, which means removing dissolved gas before use. It also demonstrates how to move solvent by cannula and by syringe on a Schlenk line. These...

A glovebox lets chemists handle air- and moisture-sensitive solids and liquids inside an inert atmosphere. It is a sealed box with gloves attached to one or more sides. Those gloves let the user work inside the chamber without exposing the sample to air.

For inert-atmosphere work, chemists may choose a glovebox, a Schlenk setup, or high-vacuum techniques. Schlenk and especially high-vacuum methods give tighter control over the atmosphere. That makes them useful for reactions that are very...

Sublimation can be used to purify ferrocene, a solid that turns directly from a solid into a gas. This phase change happens without first becoming a liquid. It occurs at temperatures and pressures lower than the compound's triple point.

During sublimation, the solid is heated into the gas phase. Non-volatile impurities stay behind in the sample. The vaporized compound then cools and deposits as a solid on a cold surface.

This method works for both organic and inorganic solids. In this...

Magnetic susceptibility helps reveal whether a transition metal complex has unpaired electrons. Many organic molecules are diamagnetic, which means all of their electrons are paired in bonds. In contrast, many transition metal complexes are paramagnetic and have unpaired electrons in their ground state.

Hund's rule says that electrons fill orbitals of similar energy to maximize the number of unpaired electrons before they pair up. Transition metals have partially filled d-orbitals, and ligand...

X-ray diffraction is used to study the structure of molecules with X-rays. In chemistry, this method is called X-ray crystallography. It is commonly done with either a single crystal or a powdered sample.

Single-crystal X-ray diffraction can show the absolute structure of a compound. It reveals the exact positions of atoms, so bond lengths and bond angles can be measured. This method gives the structure inside one crystal, which may not match the bulk of the material. For that reason, other...

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) helps students study unpaired electrons in chemical systems. EPR spectroscopy is used here to examine how dibutylhydroxy toluene, or BHT, acts as an antioxidant during the autoxidation of aliphatic aldehydes.

The lesson focuses on the basic principles behind EPR and shows how this method can track radical behavior in a reaction. It also connects the technique to a real chemical example, where BHT is studied for its role in slowing autoxidation. This makes...

Mössbauer spectroscopy is a bulk characterization technique used to study atoms in the solid state. It examines the nuclear excitation of an atom by gamma rays. The method gives a spectrum that can reveal the oxidation state, spin state, and electronic environment around the target atom.

These spectral features help build evidence about a molecule’s electronic structure and ligand arrangement, or geometry. The video explains the basic principles behind Mössbauer spectroscopy. It also shows how...

Chemistry uses models to explain patterns in reactivity, and acid-base definitions have changed over time. Substances have been grouped as acids and bases since ancient Greece. Early descriptions were based on taste. Acids were sour, like lemon juice and vinegar. Bases were used to neutralize acids. The word acid comes from the Latin term for sour-tasting. The word alkaline comes from an Arabic word for roasting, linked to early ash-based bases used to make soap.

A later model came from Svante...

Ferrocene synthesis and electron count are the focus of this high school chemistry experiment. Ferrocene is an organometallic compound, which means it contains a metal bonded to carbon-based groups. It was first reported in 1951 by Kealy and Pauson in Nature.

The early structure for ferrocene placed the iron atom in a simple sigma bond to one carbon atom on each cyclopentadiene ligand. A later model from Wilkinson and Woodward described a sandwich shape, with iron between two cyclopentadiene...

Infrared spectroscopy of metal carbonyl isomers shows how symmetry can help identify a complex. Metal carbonyl complexes are useful metal precursors for making organometallic complexes and catalysts. IR spectroscopy is one of the most useful ways to study compounds that contain CO groups.

Group theory is the use of mathematics to describe molecular symmetry. It can be used to predict how many IR-active C-O vibrational modes a molecule should have. The number of C-O stretches seen in an IR...

Nickel and palladium dppf complexes are the focus of this chemistry protocol. It guides the synthesis of two metal complexes that contain the ligand 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene, or dppf. The compounds are M(dppf)Cl2, where M is Ni or Pd.

Both metal complexes are four-coordinate, meaning each metal center is bonded to four groups. Even so, they do not share the same geometry at the metal center. Molecular orbital, or MO, theory is used together with 1H NMR and the Evans method to...

Paddlewheel complexes are coordination compounds made from two transition metal ions held close together by four bridging ligands. The metals can come from the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd row of transition metals. The bridging ligands are most often formamidinates or carboxylates.

Changing the metal ion or the bridging ligand gives many different paddlewheel complexes. Their close structure allows metal-metal bonding, and that bonding strongly affects how the complexes look and react. Because of this,...

Dye-sensitized solar cells use a dye to capture sunlight and turn it into electrical current. They are a type of solar cell, which is an electrical device that uses light to create current. This approach is modeled on nature, where colored molecules absorb light energy and help drive chemical reactions.

The idea connects to photosynthesis in plants. In leaves, chlorophyll pigments give plants their green color and absorb sunlight to power the conversion of water and carbon dioxide into...

Bioinorganic chemistry studies how metals help living systems work. Many proteins contain metals, and some depend on metal-containing active sites to function. Proteins with metals are called metalloproteins. They help carry out important cell functions needed for life.

One major role of metalloproteins is oxygen transport. These proteins bind oxygen, move it, and then release it for processes such as respiration. Synthetic inorganic chemists study coordination compounds to model these...

Photopolymerizing styrene with light produces polystyrene, a common commodity plastic. This experiment uses simple photochemistry to start a radical polymerization reaction. A radical is a highly reactive particle with an unpaired electron that can help build long polymer chains.

The module focuses on benzoyl peroxide as a photo-initiator for styrene polymerization. Benzoyl peroxide absorbs light and helps trigger the reaction. The process also shows how photochemistry can be used to control...