CHEMISTRY 163
CHEMICAL APPLICATIONS OF GROUP THEORY
SYLLABUS, SPRING, 2002
This course will cover selected applications of symmetry operations in chemistry. After a development of the fundamental principles of point group theory, the method will be applied to an examination of chemical bonding and crystallography. The required text for the course is F. A. Cotton, Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd. ed. Wiley, New York, 1990. The course will be handled as a tutorial and the grade will be based primarily on an equal weighting of the midterm examination and the two graded exercises. The grade may be adjusted upward or downward a fraction of a letter grade on the basis of subjective criteria such as participation in class discussion and performance on the ungraded homework.
A schedule of the topics to be covered is provided below. Chemistry 163 is a half course and will have week ly meetings for the duration of the semester. Reading assignments in Cotton's text are given in brackets. An attempt will be made to provide material related to the course on a short Web page for Chemistry 163. A link to the page will be found at http://pages.pomona.edu/~wes04747.
I) Unit I. Fundamental Principles
Week 1 Symmetry operations and the definition of a point group [Ch. 1, 2, 3.1-3.8]
Week 2 Classification of molecules according to point groups [Ch. 3.9-3.15]
Week 3 Representation of groups [Ch. 4, pp. 68-81]
Week 4 Character tables [Ch. 4, pp. 81-98]
Week 5 Relation of quantum mechanics to group theory [Ch. 5]
Week 6 Symmetry adapted linear combinations (SALC) [Ch. 6]
Week 7 In-class, closed-book examination over Unit I
II) Unit II. Group Theory and Chemical Bonding
Week 8 Hückel molecular orbital theory [Ch. 7, pp. 133-159]
Week 9 Hückel molecular orbital theory (contd.) [Ch. 7, pp. 159-180]
Week 10 Hybrid orbitals and sigma bonding [Ch. 8, 194-227]
Week 11 Pi bonding [Ch. 8, pp. 227-251]
Project 1 that covers Unit II is due in the class session held during week 12 of the semester.
II) Unit III. Crystallography and Molecular Spectroscopy
Week 12 One- and two- dimensional lattices [Ch. 11, pp. 348-368]
Week 13. Three-dimensional lattices and point groups [Ch. 11, pp. 368-384]
Week 14. Space groups [Ch. 11, pp. 384-400]
Week 15 Vibrational spectroscopy [Ch. 10, pp. 304-317, 324-346]
Project 2 that Covers Unit III is due at 17:00 on Wednesday, 8 May, the last day of classes.
syllabus_2002.htm, WES, 15 Jan. 2002