KEMV1194 CH2: Modern Main Group Chemistry (JSS30) (2 op)

Modes of study: 6 x 2 h lectures; 2 x 1.5 h workshops/assignments; final exam. Mandatory class attendance and assignments, as well as completion of the final examination.

Credits: 2 ECTS

Evaluation: The course will be graded either pass or fail. In order to pass the course at least 50% of the total points must be achieved. The total points consist of class activity and assignments (50%) as well as the final examination (50%).

Contents: This course will cover recent developments in the chemistry of the s- and p-block elements, with a view to showing how perceptions of the reactivity of main group elements have changed in the past 20 years. It will cover the underpinning basis of the ‘traditional’ (contrasting) views of main group and transition metal chemistry, and show how the synthesis of new types of compound featuring (in particular) the heavier p-block elements has transformed these views. The course will focus on (i) the synthetic strategies and ancillary ligand design that have facilitated such developments, (ii) the differences in geometric structure of heavier p-block compounds compared to their analogues from the first period; (iii) the differences in electronic structure which derive from non-traditional geometries; (iv) the unprecedented patterns of stoichiometric reactivity which are facilitated by the frontier orbital picture of these systems; and (v) ongoing developments in catalytic processes.

- Knowledge: the students will be exposed to cutting-edge main group chemistry and will gain knowledge of the synthetic, structural and reaction chemistries of a range of s- and p-block systems. They will understand how the electronic structure of such systems can be manipulated to bring about patterns of reactivity more usually found for transition metal complexes.

- Skills: students will develop experience of the use of spectroscopic probes to determine structure in novel main group systems, through a number of workshop problems on this topic.

The course will include:

Carbenes and their heavier group 14 counterparts; analogues from groups 13 and 15

Heavier analogues of classical organic functional groups: alkenes, alkynes, carbonyls

Main Group radicals

Frustrated Lewis pairs

Case studies of Main Group systems in redox and non-redox catalysis

M.Sc. or equivalent in chemistry and final year undergraduate students are welcomed to participate.