Elizabethtown College
Seminar Topics:2006-2007
Ch 361, 362
1.Discuss
the inorganic chemistry of carbon.
2.Prepare
a talk on the chemistry of aluminum, including Charles Martin Hall.
Ref.
1)Any general or inorganic chemistry textbook.
3.Discuss background, theory and efforts in preparing stable tetracations.
Ref.
1)G.A. Olah, G.K. Surya Prakash, and N.J. Head, J.Am. Chem. Soc., 117,
12005 (1995).
4.Discuss the first molecule containing a Si4 tetrahedron, one of the “greatest challenges facing organosilicon chemists.”
Ref. 1)Chem. Eng. News, 71(32), 18 (1993).
2)C.M.M.
Finger, K. Polborn, and N. Wiberg, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 32, 1054
(1993).
5.Discuss the feasibility of preparing derivatives of alkali metals in oxidation states higher than +1.
Ref. 1)K. Moock and K. Seppelt, Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem., 561, 132 (1988).
2)K.
Moock and K. Seppelt, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 28, 1676 (1989).
6.Discuss the chemistry of nitric oxide, NO.
Ref. 1)Science (Washington, DC), 258, 1861, 1862, 1898 (1992).
2)P.L.
Feldman, O.W. Griffith, and D.J. Stuehr, Chem. Eng. News, 71(51), 26 (1993).
7.Discuss the work of Nobel Laureate Henry Taube.
Ref. 1)R.M. Baum, Chem. Eng. News, 62(21), 31 (1984).
2)F.
Basolo and R.C. Johnson, “Coordination Chemistry,” 2nd ed., Science Reviews,
London, 1987, Ch. 6.
8.Prepare a talk on the origin, history, format, evolution, and use of Beilstein’s HandbookofOrganicChemistry.
Ref. 1)J.E.H. Hancock, J. Chem. Educ., 45, 336 (1968).
2)“How to Use Beilstein,” Springer-Verlag, NY, 1978.
3)Chem. Eng. News, 59(20), 21 (1981).
34
(2001).
9.Consider the following statements from a paper2 in the literature.
“No attempt whatever would be made to identify or characterize products by classical (i.e., analysis, or IR, NMR, or mass spectral) methods . . . Even today one frequently sees or reads the assertion that spectroscopic structure methods must be accorded great reverence because of the relatively immense difficulty, time requirement, and expense of crystallography.As a generalization, this notion is a kind of recerche du temps perdu . ..”
What are the authors trying to say in this paper?Do they really believe that the basic physical techniques are obsolete?Your seminar should outline the argument of the authors, and you should elaborate on the pros and cons of their statements.Include a discussion of timescales of physical techniques.
Ref. 1)E.L. Muetterties, Inorg. Chem., 4, 769 (1965).
2)F.A. Cotton and L.M. Troup, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 95, 3798 (1973).
3)R.G. Bryant, J. Chem. Educ.,60, 933 (1983).
4)J.E. Huheey, E.A. Keiter, and R.L. Keiter, “Inorganic Chemistry,” 4th ed., Harper & Row, NY, 1993, pps. 233-240;723-730.
5)E.A.V.
Ebsworth, D.W.H. Rankin, and S. Cradock, “Structural Methods in Inorganic
Chemistry,” 2nd ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1991, pps. 9-12.
10.After investigating the literature relating to the following two pairs of statements, prepare a seminar tracing the history of both stories.
A.“We are hereby reporting the first unequivocal synthesis of a series of silicon compounds which are analogs of cyclopentadiene.A broad research program is envisioned.”[R.A. Benkeser, R.F. Grossman, and G.M. Stanton, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 83, 3716 (1961)].
“In
attempting to extend the (above) investigations, . . . we have discovered
major discrepancies in the original work.While
it is still too early to be able to state precisely what the difficulties
are, it is clear that a significant portion to (sic)
the published work cannot be duplicated.”[R.A.
Benkeser and G.M. Stanton, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 85,
834 (1963)].
B.“We
report the first preparation of . . . silicon analogues of ?-allyl complexes
and (these) represent the first stable compounds of 'doubly bonded silicon'
” [H. Sakurai, Y. Kamiyama, and Y. Nakadaira, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 98,
7453 (1976)].
“We
now report evidence indicating that unfortunately the structure of the
compound reported earlier (above) is in error . . . ”[P.
Radnia and J.S. McKennis, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 102,
6351 (1980)].
11.The
compound bis(o-phenylenedioxy)silane
is causing controversy. Single-crystal X-ray
analysis of this compound suggests that it is the first example of planar
tetracoordinate silicon.Other workers,
however, have criticized the results on both experimental and theoretical
grounds.
Ref.
1)H. Meyer and G. Nagorsen, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 18,
551 (1979).
2)E.U.
Würthwein and P. von Rague Schleyer, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 18,
553 (1979).
3)J.
Dunitz, Angew. Chem.,
Int. Ed. Engl., 19,
1034 (1980).
4)G.
Nagorsen and H. Meyer, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 19,
1034 (1980).
5)Chem.
Brit., 17,
156 (1981).
12.Prepare
a talk which summarizes work concerning the preparation of compounds with
bond orders greater than three.
Ref.
1)J.G. Norman, Jr., H.B. Gray, H.J.
Kolari, and W.C. Trogler, Inorg.
Chem., 16,
987 (1977).
2)F.A.
Cotton, W.H. Ilsley, and W. Kaim, Inorg.
Chem., 18,
2717 (1979).
3)J.L.
Templeton, Prog.Inorg.
Chem., 26,
211 (1979).
4)B.E.
Bursten, F.A. Cotton, and M.B. Hall, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 102,
6348 (1980).
5)F.A.
Cotton and G. Wilkinson, “Advanced Inorganic Chemistry,” 5th ed., Wiley-Interscience,
NY, 1988, pps. 1085-1090.
13.Discuss
the history and preparation of compounds containing the silicon-silicon
double bond.
Ref.
1)R. West, M.J. Fink, and J. Michl, Science
(Washington, DC), 214,
1343 (1981).
2)Chem.
Eng. News, 59(51),
8 (1981).
3)H.F.
Schaefer III, Acc.
Chem. Res., 15,
283 (1982).
4)R.
West, Science (Washington,
DC), 225,
1109 (1984).
5)G.
Raabe and J. Michl, Chem.
Rev., 85,
419 (1985).
6)R.
West, Angew. Chem.,
Int. Ed. Engl., 26,
1201 (1988).
7)J.
Barrau, V. Balaji, and J. Michl, Organometallics, 8,
2034 (1989).
14.Discuss
recent advances in preparing compounds with (p® p)p multiple
bonds between the heteroatoms.
Ref.
1)A.H. Cowley, Polyhedron, 3,
389 (1984).
2)R.
Withall and L. Andrew, J.Am.
Chem. Soc., 107,
2567 (1985).
3)J.
Escudie, C. Couret, J. Stagé, M. Andrianarison, and J.-D. Andriamizada, J.Am.
Chem. Soc., 107,
3378 (1985).
4)H.
Bock and R. Dammel, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl.,24,
111 (1985).
5)J.
Barrau, V. Balaji, and J. Michl, Organometallics, 8,
2034 (1989).
6)H.G.
Ang and F.K. Lee, Polyhedron, 8,
2331 (1989).
15.“Trigonal
bipyramidal molecules of type Fe(CO)5
and LFe(CO)4
(L = ligand) show only a single resonance in their carbon-13 NMR spectra
in the carbonyl region.This anomalous
behavior is due to poor equipment.We
simply cannot resolve the extra lines with present-day machines.” Criticize
this statement and offer an alternative hypothesis.
Ref.
1)L. Kruczynski, L.K.K. Lishingham,
and J. Takats, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 96,
4006
(1974).
2)S.T.
Wilson, N.J. Coville, J.R. Shapely, and J.A. Osborn, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 96,
4038 (1974).
16.Discuss
recent attempts at the preparation of derivatives of SF5.
Ref.
1)H.L. Roberts and N.H. Ray, J.
Chem. Soc., 665 (1960).
2)O.
Lösking and H. Willner, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 28,
1255 (1989).
3)J.S.
Thrasher and K.V. Madappat, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 28,
1256 (1989).
17.Prepare
a talk on synthesis, bonding, properties, and structure of “molecular wires”
and “chain metals”.
Ref.
1)R. Dagani, Chem.
Eng. News, 74(4),
22 (1996).
2)I.
Manners, Chem. Brit., 32,
46 (1996).
18.Prepare
a seminar on nonmetallic conductors.
Ref.
1)M.R. Bryce, Chem.
Brit., 24,
781 (1988).
19.Prepare
a talk on super acids.
Ref.
1)G.A. Olah, G.K. Surya Prakash, and
J. Sommer, Science
(Washington, DC), 206,
13 (1979).
20.Discuss
“nonchemical” ultraviolet filters (e.g., TiO2)
and renewed interest in these materials and their properties.
Ref.
1)V.P.S. Judin, Chem.
Brit., 29,
503 (1993).
21.Prepare
a lecture on X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy.Emphasize
the applications of this technique, and discuss examples from inorganic
chemistry.
Ref.
1)T.L. James, J.
Chem. Educ., 48,
713 (1971).
2)S.D.
Worley, Chem. Rev., 71,
295 (1971).
3)W.L.
Jolly, Coord. Chem.
Rev., 13,
47 (1974).
4)S.
Chen-Cheng and J.W. Faller, J.
Organomet. Chem., 84,
53 (1975).
22.Prepare
a talk on synchrotron radiation and its recent uses in spectroscopy.
Ref.
1)A. Robinson, Chem.
Brit., 33(4),
50 (1997), and references therein.
23.Discuss
carbon-13 NMR as a chromatographic detector.
Ref.
1)D. Illman, Chem.
Eng. News, 72(41),
36 (1994).
2)H.C.
Dorn and S. Stevenson, Anal.
Chem., 66,
2993 (1994).
24.Prepare
a talk on the scientific contributions of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995).
Ref.
)R.H. Garstang, Publ.
Astronom. Soc. Pac.,109,
73 (1997).
25.Prepare
an elementary discussion of X-ray
crystallography.
Ref.
1)D.E. Sands, “Introduction to Crystallography,”
Benjamin/Dover, NY, 1969.
2)R.F.
Stewart and S.R. Hall, in “Determination of Organic Structures by Physical
Methods,” Vol. 3, F.C. Nachod and J.J. Zuckerman, Eds., Academic Press,
NY, 1971, Chapter 2.
3)W.
Clegg, “Crystal Structure Determination,” Oxford University Press, NY,
1998.
26.Prepare
an elementary talk on photochemistry:theory,
experimental apparatus and applications.
Ref.
1)C.E. Wayne and R.P. Wayne, “Photochemistry,”
Oxford University Press, NY, 1996.
27.Prepare
a talk which defines, explains, and illustrates the concept of a fluxional
molecule.
Ref.
1)F.A. Cotton, Acc.
Chem. Res., 1,
257 (1968).
2)K.
Vrieze and P.W.N.M. Van Leeuwen, Prog.Inorg.
Chem., 14,
1 (1971).
3)L.M.
Jackman and F.A. Cotton, Eds., “Dynamic NMR Spectroscopy,” Academic Press,
Orlando, FL, 1975, Ch. 10.
4)J.W.
Faller, Adv. Organomet.
Chem., 16,
211 (1977).
5)B.E.
Mann, in “Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry,” Pergamon Press, NY,
1982, Vol. 3, pps. 89-171.
6)J.E.
Huheey, E.A. Keiter, and R.L. Keiter, “Inorganic Chemistry,” 4th ed., Harper
& Row, NY, 1993, pps. pps. 723?730.
7)F.A.
Cotton and G. Wilkinson, “Advanced Inorganic Chemistry,” 5th ed., Wiley-Interscience,
NY, 1988, pps. 1330-1333.
28.Discuss
the preparation, structure, spectroscopy, and chemical reactivity of organic
molecules with unusual shapes.Buckballs,
however, are off this list.Examples
include, but are not limited to, cubane, tetrahedrane, octahedrane, dodecahedrane,
icosahedrane, the first molecular Möbus strip, molecular jump ropes,
double bond sandwiches, betweenanes, molecular “ship in a bottle”, hexaethynylbenzene,
footballene, “super” phanes, carbon nanotubes, nested fullerene onions,
metal carbide sea urchins, molecular umbrellas, and “molecular trees (a
new branch of chemistry).”Buckyballs
earned Nobel Prize recognition for Smalley, Curl and Kroto in 1996.
Ref.
1)E. Wasserman, J.
Am. Chem. Soc.,82,
4433 (1960).
2)H.L.
Frisch and E. Wasserman, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 83,
3789 (1961).
3)G.
Schill, “Catenanes, Rotaxanes, and Knots,” Academic Press, NY, 1971.
4)J.C.
Wang, Chem. Brit., 6,
253 (1973).
5)J.A.
Hyatt, J. Org. Chem., 43,
1808 (1978).
6)P.E.
Eaton, Tetrahedron, 35,
2189 (1979).
7)J.A.
Marshall, Chem.
Brit., 13,
213 (1980).
8)Chem.
Eng. News, 60(28),
21 (1982).
9)D.M.
Walba, R.M. Richards, and R.C. Haltiwanger, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 104,
3219 (1982).
10)J.
March, “Advanced Organic Chemistry,” 4th ed., Wiley-Interscience, NY, 1992,
pps.104?106.
11)N.
Herron, Inorg. Chem., 25,
4714 (1986).
12)B.A.
Hess, Jr., and L.J. Schaad, J.
Org. Chem., 51,
3902 (1986).
13)A.
Bashir-Hashemi, J.
Am. Chem. Soc, 110,
7234 (1988).
14)G.
Maier, Angew. Chem.,
Int. Ed. Engl., 27,
309 (1988).
15)S.
Nagase and M. Nakano, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 27,
1081 (1988).
16)W.
Worthy, Chem. Eng.
News, 66(46),
45 (1988).
17)C.
Kabuto, H. Sakurai, and A. Sekiguchi, Angew.
Chem., Int.
Ed. Engl., 101,
97 (1989).
18)J.D.
Puglishi, J.R. Wyatt, and I. Tinoco, Jr., Acc.
Chem. Res., 24,
152 (1991).
19)R.M.
Baum, Chem. Eng.
News, 71(31),
3 (1993).References therein.
20)R.C.
Haddon, Science
(Washington, DC), 261,
1545 (1993).
21)R.M.
Baum, Chem. Eng.
News, 71(38),
31 (1993).References therein.
22)R.M.
Baum, Chem. Eng.
News, 71(47),
8 (1993).References therein.
23)Acc.
Chem. Res., 25(3),
119 (1992).Several reviews therein.
24)R.
Gleiter and D. Kratz, Acc.
Chem. Res., 26,
311 (1993).
25)F.
Bickelhaupt, J.
Am. Chem. Soc.,115,
12179 (1993).
26)Y.
Wang, J. Am. Chem.
Soc.,116,
397 (1994).
27)M.
Saunders, H.A. Jiménez-Vázquez, S. Mroczkowski, D.I. Freedberg,
and F.A.L. Anet, J.
Am. Chem. Soc.,116,
3621 (1994).
28)S.
Borman, Chem. Eng.
News, 72(48),
34 (1994).
29)F.
Diederich and C. Thilgen, Science
(Washington, DC), 271,
317 (1996).
30)G.E.
Scuseria, Science
(Washington, DC), 271,
942 (1996).
31)T.W.
Bell, Science (Washington,
DC), 271,
1077 (1996).
32)S.L.
Regen, V. Janout, and M. Lanier, J.
Am. Chem. Soc.,118,
1573 (1996).
33)M.
Saunders, R.J. Cross, H.A. Jiménez-Vázquez, R. Shimshi, and
A. Khong, Science
(Washington, DC), 271,
1693 (1996).
34)R.M.
Baum, Chem. Eng.
News, 74(42),
7 (1996).References therein.
35)S.
Borman, Chem. Eng.
News, 75(3),
36 (1997).References therein.
36)B.I.
Yakobson and R.E. Smalley, Am.
Scientist, 85,
324 (1997).
37)S.R.
Batten and R. Robson, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 37,
1460 (1998).
29.Prepare
a talk on crown ethers.
Ref.
1)C.J. Pedersen, Aldrichim.
Acta, 4,
1 (1971).
2)G.W.
Gokel and H.D. Durst, Aldrichim.
Acta, 9,
3 (1976).
3)A.C.
Knipe, J. Chem.
Educ., 53,
618 (1976).
4)J.
March, “Advanced Organic Chemistry,” 4th ed., Wiley-Interscience, NY, 1992,
pps. 82-87.
5)C.J.
Pedersen, Science
(Washington, DC), 241,
536 (1988).
30.Discuss
the science and politics of salt.
Ref.
1)G. Taubes, Science
(Washington, DC), 281,
898 (1998).
31.Prepare
a talk on chemical synthesis using ultrasonic waves.
Ref.
1)P. Boudjouk, J.
Chem. Educ., 63,
427 (1986).
2)D.
Bremner, Chem. Brit., 22,
633 (1986).
3)K.
Suslick, Adv. Organomet.
Chem., 25,
73 (1986).
4)K.
Suslick, “Ultrasound: Its Chemical, Physical and Biological Effects,” VCH
Publishers, FL, 1988.
5)R.F.
Abdulla, Aldrichim.
Acta, 21,
31 (1988).
6)W.
Worthy,Chem.
Eng. News, 69(40),
18 (1991).
7)T.J.
Mason, “Practical Sonochemistry: User’s Guide to Applications in Chemistry
& Chemical Engineering,” Prentice-Hall, IA, 1991.
8)T.J.
Mason, “Sonochemistry,” Oxford University Press, NY, 1999.
32.Prepare
a talk on the chemistry of inert gases, including recent developments.
Ref.
1)H.H. Hyman, Ed., “Noble-Gas Compounds,”
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1963.
2)G.J.
Moody and J.D.R. Thomas, “Noble Gases and Their Compounds,” Pergamon Press,
NY, 1964.
3)H.H.
Claassen, “The Noble Gases,” Heath, Lexington, MA, 1966.
4)J.H.
Holloway, “Noble-Gas Chemistry,” Methuen, NY, 1968.
5)N.
Bartlett, “The Chemistry of the Noble Gases,” Elsevier, NY, 1971.
6)B.L.
Smith, “The Inert Gases:Model Systems
for Science,” Springer-Verlag, NY, 1971.
7)A.H.
Cockett and K.C. Smith, and N. Bartlett and F.O. Sladky, in “Comprehensive
Inorganic Chemistry,” J.C. Bailar, Jr., H.J. Emeléus, R. Nyholm,
and A.F. Trotman-Dickenson, Eds., Pergamon Press, NY, 1973, Vol. 1, Chs.
5 and 6.
8)D.T.
Hawkins, W.E. Falconer, and N. Bartlett, “Noble Gas Compounds, 1962-1976,”
Plenum Press, NY, 1978.
9)J.
Foropoulos, Jr., and D.D. DesMarteau, J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 104,
4260 (1982).
10)J.F.
Sawyer, G.J. Schrobilgen, and S.J. Sutherland, Inorg.
Chem., 21,
4064 (1982).
11)B.
Douglas, D.H. McDaniel, and J.J. Alexander, “Concepts and Models of Inorganic
Chemistry,” 2nd ed., Wiley, NY, 1983, Ch. 13.
12)N.N.
Greenwood and A. Earnshaw, “Chemistry of the Elements,” Pergamon Press,
NY, 1984, Ch. 18.
13)A.A.A.
Emara and G.J. Schrobilgen, J.
Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1644
(1987).
14)J.H.
Holloway, Chem.
Brit., 23,
658 (1987).
15)R. Dagani, Chem. Eng. News, 66(14), 16 (1988).
16)A.A.A. Emara and G.J. Schrobilgen, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 257 (1988).
17)G.J. Schrobilgen, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 863 (1988).
18)D. Naumann and W. Tyrra, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 47 (1989).
19)G. Frenking and J.F. Liebman, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 111, 31 (1989).
20)M.W. Wong and L. Radom, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 719 (1989).
21)J.C.P. Sanders and G.J. Schrobilgen, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1576 (1989).
22)H.J. Frohn, S. Jakobs, and G. Henkel, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 28, 1506 (1989).
23)C.K.
Jorgensen and G. Frenking, Structure and Bonding,73, 1 (1990).
32.Prepare a talk on the chemical interests and accomplishments of Sir Edward Elgar and Alexander Borodin.
Ref. 1)Chem. Brit., 22, 1084 (1986).
2)Chem. Brit., 23, 209 (1987).
3)C.B. Hunt, Chem. Brit., 23, 547 (1987).
4)G.B. Kauffman, I.D. Rae, Y.I. Solov’ev, and C. Steinberg, Chem. Eng. News, 65(7), 28 (1987), and references therein.