The nature of bonding in magnesocene is currently in dispute. This paper presents a brief review of the structure and bonding proposed for magnesocene, leading up to the most recent work. (Author/MA)

Previous articles have dealt with the special problems arising when attempting to reduce reducible representations in continuous point groups. Current work, involving the programing of "projection operators" in connection with numerical computations, also shows the continuous groups to present special problems. These problems are…

Provides answers to these two questions: (1) What can be said about molecular structure? and (2) What are the foundations of theoretical chemistry? Indicates that students can be encouraged to think critically about primitive concepts of their subject (such as bonds and molecules) rather than passively accept them as truth. (JN)

A five-step procedure is provided to help students in making the assignment absolute configuration less bothersome. Examples for both single (2-butanol) and multi-chiral carbon (3-chloro-2-butanol) molecules are included. (JN)

Shows how physics, arguably the most confusing of the sciences, can be told as an interesting and informative tale of determination and discovery that even middle school students can grasp, presenting the story of the scientific detective work that eventually convinced the world that the atom existed. (SM)

Describes four principles essential to understanding the properties of biological molecules. Also uses classroom examples to aid in a discussion of instructional strategies for teaching these principles. (ZWH)

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) was used to demonstrate how various lipids and lipid classes could be separated in a biochemistry laboratory setting. Three different SPE methods were chosen on their ability to separate a lipid mixture, consisting of a combination of a either a fatty acid, a triacylglycerol, a mono- or diacylglycerol, phospholipid,…

PCR, genomic DNA isolation, and agarose gel electrophoresis are common molecular biology techniques with a wide range of applications. Therefore, we have developed a series of exercises employing these techniques for an intermediate level undergraduate molecular biology laboratory course. In these exercises, students isolate genomic DNA from the…

A clarification of concepts and a comparative analysis of chirality as a consequence of stereogenic center and axes are provided by considering the different possibilities for the archetypical molecule Cabcd. The key difference between Cabcd and abC=C=Ccd and, by extension, between molecules incorporating a stereogenic axis, is in the number of…

Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation is developed that focuses on the varying enantiomeric excess of the product diols based on the structures of the alkenes being oxidized. The experimental sequence enables investigation of this reaction in terms of the different chiral ligands being used.

The interplay between a nucleus and an electron pair is explained through a basic application of an electrostatic and balanced model to determine the correlated and repulsive movements of the electron pair. The stable correlation depends on the positive charge produced by the combined force, which in turn establishes a negative potential energy.

The investigation of photochemistry and photophysics of individual quantum systems is described with the help of a wide-field fluorescence microscopy approach. The fluorescence single molecules are observed in real time.

Complexes of pyrazole-derived ligands are very popular due to the ability of the pyrazolato anion to form bridged polymetallic compounds in which the metals are held close enough to react with small molecules or facilitate magnetic exchange. The preparation of monodentate pyrazole and 3,5-dimethylpyrazole (DMHpz) nickel species and the…

The first introduction to molecular geometry should be through the simple and easily understood VSEPR model, as the Valence Bond Theory and MO Theory suffer from limitations as far as understanding molecular geometry is concerned. The VSEPR model gives a perfectly satisfactory description of the bonding that follows directly from the Lewis model…