DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

The graduate programme in the Department leads   to the award   of Master   of Science (M.Sc) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degrees in the following areas:

• Analytical/Environmental Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry

The postgraduate programme in Chemistry involves prescribed course work carefully designed to expose the student to advanced theoretical chemical concepts. Such a background will considerably assist the student in the understanding, interpretation and analysis of his/ her experimental results obtained from laboratory research.

 

A student on the graduate programme in chemistry is normally required to
achieve satisfactory performance in specified number of taught courses.

He is also expected to undertake some original research for a thesis in the
following areas:

• Natural Products Chemistry
• Physical Organic Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Electro- Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Synthetic Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry and
• (viii) Inorganic Chemistry

All courses and their corresponding examination shall be completed within the first year of the graduate programme.

 

COURSES AVAILABLE

CORE COURSE

First Semester                                                                                             Units

CHM   701      Separation Techniques                                                        4

CHM   702      Applied Spectroscopy                                                          4

Second Semester

CHM   703      Analysis of Experimental Data                                            2

CHM   718      Seminar2

CHM   799      Research Thesis                                                                   6

(i)        INORGANIC/ANALYTICAL/ENVIRONMENTAL

CHEMISTRY:

DEGREE OPTION COMPULSORY COURSES First Semester

CHM   704      Hydride Chemistry and Interstitial Compounds              2

CHM   705      Co-ordination Chemistry                                                    2

Second Semester

CHM   706     Electrochemical and Optical Methods of Analysis                        2
CHM   707     Advanced Environmental Chemistry                                 3

 

(ii)       ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: DEGREE OPTION

COMPULSORY COURSES First Semester CHM   708      Polyfunctional groups and Aromatic

Chemistry: Mechanism of Reaction                                  4

Second Semester

CHM   709    Pericyclic reaction, heterocyclics and naturally-
occurring compounds                                                                                  4
PHYSICAL     CHEMISTRY  DEGREE  OPTION   COMPULSORY

COURSE First Semester

CHM   710 Advanced Chemical Kinetics                                                  3

Second Semester

CHM   711      Molecular Spectroscopy                                                    3

CHM   712      Radiation and Photochemistry                                         3

(i)        COMPLEMENTARY COURSES TO THE DEGREE OPTIONS

First Semester

CHM   713     Reactions in non-aqueous, inorganic sol vent systems 2

CHM   715     Physical Organic Chemistry                                               2

Second Semester

CHM   714      poly-acid and Silicates, soil Chemistry                            2

CHM   716      advanced Polymer Chemistry                                          2

CHM   717      Organo-Metallic Chemistry                                               2

Physical Chemistry

CHM   610      advanced Chemical Kinetics

CHM   611      Molecular Spectroscopy

CHM   612      Radiation and Photochemistry

 

 

Detailed Courses for M.Sc Degree in Chemistry

CHM  701      Separation Techniques

Fundamental concepts; definitions and law; instruments for measuring absorption of radiation: UV, Visible, infrared, and n.m.r. spectroscopy; mass spectrometry; limitations of spectrometry.

 

CHM   703     Analysis of Experimental Data

Evaluation of analytical data; statistical treatment of small sets of data; types of errors in quantitative measurements; precision and accuracy; experimental.

 

CHM   704     Hydride Chemistry and Interstitial Compound

Hydrides of the elements of main groups I-IV; synthesis; physical properties and reactions; some interstitial and non – stoichiometric compounds; carbides; nitrides; borides and silicides.

 

CHM   705 Coordination Chemistry

Historical development of coordination compounds; coordination numbers; ligands; bonding; stereochmeical aspects; complex structures, spectra; magnetic properties.

 

CHM   706      Electrodemical and Optional Methods of Analysis

Electrodes processes; ion selective electrodes; current potential, equations, D.C.A.C and pulse paleography; instrumentation of spectrometric analysis; polarimetry;   refractormety   and   microscopic   methods;   their   recent developments.

 

CHM 707     Advanced Environmental Chemistry

Water chemistry; ecological aspects of surface and ground water chemistry; sources and characteristics of municipal and industrial wastewaters; water and wastewaters; sampling and analysis for chemical and bacteriological parameters. Water pollution control measures – biological and physio-chemical methods of treatment for disposal/ recycling. Physical, chemical, mineralogical and biological properties of soil, sources and nature of solid wastes, pollution and residual toxicity from application of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Disposal and management of solid wastes and their recycling. Chemistry of the lower atmosphere; air pollution; method of analysis of air for various parameters.

 

CHM   708     Polyfunctional   Groups   and   Aromatic   Chemistry   with Mechanism of Reactions.

The chemistry of aromatic compounds compared with their aliphatic counterparts, nitrile, gringnard reaction, chemistry of bifunctional compounds. Aldol and related reactions. Energetics, Kinetics and the investigation of reaction mechanism. Simple alicyclic carbon compounds and their synthesis. Representative polycyclic compounds surveyed. Nomenclature and structure.

 

CHM 709 Pericyclic Reactions Hetherocyclics and Naturally Occurring

Compounds and Synthetic Methods

Ring forming and ring fission reaction and woodwor-Hofman Rules. Signatropic shifts. Indole, quinlines, imidazole and selected monocyclic hetercycles with 2N, NS and O, introductory alkaloid, terpenoid, coumarin and flavonoid chemistries and biogenesis, chemical fossils, organic synthetics strategies illustrated by the syntheses of three or more complex natural products; survey on general synthetic reactions and methods.

 

CHM   710 Advanced Chemical Kinetics

Experimental methods in gas phase and fast reactions in solution. Theoretical interpretation of reaction rates and application-vant Hoof equilibria for chemical equation and forcing functions, chemical relaxation times, amplitudes and enthalpies. Temperature jump techniques including state, stopped-flow and temperature jump spectrophotometer.

 

CHM 711 Molecular Spectroscopy

Application of quantum theory to the interpretation of absorption and emission spectra in terms of molecular properties, theory of electronic absorption and emission (florescence and phosphorescence), special intensities, and polarization and transitions. Theory of vibrational and rotational spectra- IR, Raman, Resonance Raman, F.S.R and NMR. Hyperfme splitting and g-factor Simple magnetic resonance spectra.

 

CHM 712      Radiation and Photochemistry

Interaction of radiation with matter; Radiolysis of gases; liquids and solids; Excited states; production and detection of free radicals, measurement of radical yield; application of radiation chemistry such as polymerization; sterilization; food preservation and radiobiology.

Laws of photochemistry; intra- and intermolecular processes; fluorescence and phosphorescence; thermo- and chemiluminescence’s; photosynthesis; photoelectron-chemical cells; lasers.

 

CHM 713      Reaction in Non-aqueous, Inorganic Solvent Systems.

Non-aqueous solvent systems such as liquid ammonia; liquid H₂S; hydrogen cyanide; hydrogen luoride and SO, reactions; uses

 

CHM 714      Ploy-acids and Silicates, Soil Chemistry

Condensation processes in polyacds; systems; heteropolyacids; structure of plyacids; Polyphosphoric; Silicates; Aluminosilicates; Zeolites.

 

CHM 715      Physical Organic Chemistry

Physical methods of investigating reaction mechanism. Molecular orbital theories with emphasis on the Huckel theory and their chemical application; structure properties correlation; Mammett equation applications and modification – Okamoto and Brown Taft Nishioka an Fujita, etc. Solvent effects and catalyses.

 

CHM 716      Advanced Polymer Chemistry

Polymerization reactions, condensation and addition: Polyesters; resins, fibres; polyamides and linear and non-linear polymers; molecular size; its control and reactivity; kinetics and molecular weight distributions ring formation; cross linking; gel point; Ring – scission; electronic structure montion, termination and transfer; degree of polymerization transfer constant; cationic polymerization; anionic polymerization; living polymers; stereospecific polymerization; block and graft co-ploymerization.

 

CHM 717      Oranometalic Chemistry

Synthesis; structure and reactivity, bonding in transition metal compounds. Metal carbonyls, arenas; arenes; aryls; alkyls, cyclopentadienyls. Uses of organometallics commercially and in synthetic chemistry. CHM 718 Seminar

 

CHM 799 Research Thesis