CM3212 - TRANSITION METAL CHEMISTRY

Module Overview

• Dr Edith Chan: Nomenclature of ligands/MO diagrams for pi-acceptor, pi-donor, M-O-M, M-M complexes/electron counting/Spectroscopic techniques (UV-Vis,IR,NMR)/Tanabe-Sugano Diagrams/Reaction mechanisms  

• Dr Stephen Chui: Analytical techniques in transition metal chemistry/Supramolecular Chemistry/Molecular sensors and probes/Luminescent Transition Metal complexes/Polyoxometalates/MOF/TM oxides ​

Overall Difficulty: Very Difficult

Difficulty of Assessment:

Quiz 1: Average

Quiz 2: Difficult

Finals: Very Difficult

Pace of Module: Too fast

Enjoyability: 5/5

Usefulness: 5/5

Workload of Module (Average Number of hours spent per week):

To learn the module: 9 hours

To complete assignments: 7 hours

​

How did you find the contents (how it was delivered) and the assessments of the module?

Dr Edith Chan teaches the first part on nomenclature of ligands, electron counting, MO diagrams spectroscopic methods and reaction mechanisms. Nomenclature of ligands is the simplest part compared to other parts of the module (because other parts of the module is tough), Dr Chan questions are pretty tricky, however. MO diagram is slightly tough but approachable after staring at the orbital diagrams and MO diagrams for a while and visualizing the orientations of the orbitals. d-electron count is simple once you get the hang of it. Spectroscopic methods in TM chemistry are the worst here because they require a lot of understanding of the concepts, especially NMR. Dr Edith Chan tutorial questions do pose a good practice for NMR and be sure to pay attention to her tutorial because the NMR question in the finals has the same concept as the tutorial. Reaction mechanisms are understandable with a bit of reading and practice. Dr Chui part may seem very fluffy as it involves a lot of current literature and are unfamiliar concepts, but he explains it really well. A lot of memory work is required for Dr Chui’s part and his marking is quite lenient. The first part of Dr Chui part is the simpler one as it is more easily visualizable, but the second part on MOF and TM oxides is quite abstract due to their complex structures, but Dr Chui is very knowledgeable in this field, and he can answer your doubts well. 

​

How was your experience with the module?

Overall, this module is useful as it really highlights the vast applications of transition metals in the frontiers of science, the concepts learnt in this module are also applicable to hot research topics in recent years (energy storage and solar cells etc). Dr Chui and Dr Chan conduct this module well and are both extremely knowledgeable. Tutorials are important as the exams are largely based on concepts from there. All the best for NMR from Dr Chan part :D