Written examination (1.5 hours) (70%)

• To show how fundamental principles of structure, bonding, kinetics and spectroscopy may be applied to explain the chemistry and properties of selected p- and d-block elements.
• To use these fundamental concepts to explain selected aspects of chemistry, including structure and bonding, substitution and redox reactions and biological roles.
• To provide a sound basic knowledge of the properties, nature and reactivity of the transition metals and their complexes, related to principles of electron configuration, bonding, role and structure

On successful completiion of this module you should be able to:-

• describe and explain splitting diagrams for octahedral, square planar and tetrahedral crystal fields
• use crystal field theory to explain magnetic and colour properties
• appreciate the importance of chemical species present in solution of transition chemical complexes in terms of thermodynamic stability
• explain the range and stability of oxidation states of the p- and d-block elements
• apply molecular orbital theory (LCAO) to explain the structure and bonding of simple molecules
• use pictorial molecular orbital theory to describe the bonding in diborane-6
• deduce structure of boranes using appropriate rules
• understand mechanisms of substitution reactions at transition metal centres in solution
• describe factors affecting complex stability in aqueous solution, and be able to calculate stability constants from appropriate data
• identify symmetry operations and symmetry elements, and deduce point groups for simple molecular species
• describe the biological roles and functions of selected transition metal ions
• apply appropriate analytical and cognitive skills in solving problems