Course Identification

A B.Sc. degree in chemistry is preferred but not necessary.

The course will provide a thorough introduction into symmetry and group theory, and provides an understanding on how the principles of group theory can be applied to spectroscopy, and to organic and inorganic chemistry.

In more detail: after discussing the basic principles of molecular orbital (MO) theory, the electronic structure of ethylene, butadiene, cyclopentadienyl, and benzene will be deduced and used to analyze their reactivity in organic (e.g. the Diels-Alder reaction) and organometallic chemistry. The MO diagrams of cyclopentadienyl and benzene will also be used to discuss the chemistry organometallic sandwich compounds (e.g. ferrocene) where we will use Walsh diagrams to demonstrate how perturbations in the 3D geometry of influences their energy levels and reactivity.

The following topics will be discussed in class:

• Molecular symmetry & group theory
• Electronic structure of small molecules
• IR spectroscopy
• Electronic structure of extended π-conjugated Systems
• Symmetry in organic chemistry
• Organometallic sandwich compounds
• Walsh Diagrams 

Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1. Determine the symmetry of molecules

2. Deduce the vibrational modes of simple molecules

3. Derive a qualitative picture of the molecular orbitals of complex molecules

4. Understand how electronic structure is related to reactivity

5. Apply the concepts of symmetry to complex chemical transformations

1. Inorganic Chemistry (4th Ed);                                                Housecroft

2. Inorganic Chemistry (5th Ed);                                                Miessler, Fischer, and Tarr

3. Symmetry and Spectroscopy (1st Ed);                                  Harris and Bertolucci

4. Chemical applications of Group Theory (3rd Ed);                  Cotton