General contents
Structure, reactivity and properties of Main Group elements and their compounds. Systematic description of the chemistry of Main Group elements and compounds: horizontal, vertical and diagonal trends, chemical and physical properties, preparation, bonding, stability, reactions and uses.
Detailed study of the chemistry of Hydrogen and binary hydrides, Oxygen and oxides, halogens and halides.
Detailed program
Periodic properties of the elements: valence electron configurations, atomic parameters, diagonal relationships. General periodic trends and anomalies. Effective nuclear charge. Slater’s rules. Electronegativity. Lewis acids and bases, HSAB theory.
Chemistry of Main Group Elements
Hydrogen. Atomic properties. Isotopes of hydrogen. Isotopic effect. Dihydrogen: manufacture and uses. Reactions and activation of dihydrogen. Hydrogen economy. Fuel cells.
Binary hydrides. Nature of the E-H bond. Chemical properties, manufacture and uses of ionic, metallic (interstitial) and covalent hydrides.
Hydrogen bond General features. Examples of hydrogen-bonded species. The magnitude and importance of hydrogen bonding. Structural features. Effects on the physical and chemical properties. Water, ice, hydrates and clathrates.
Chalcogens
Atomic properties. Industrial production and uses of chalcogens.
Oxygen
Atomic properties. Production and uses. Atomic oxygen. Molecular Oxygen in the Singlet State. Chemical Properties of Dioxygen. Ozone: preparation, uses and reactivity. Ozone and CFC. Water existence range. The oxygen and hydrogen reaction. Hydrogen peroxide. Preparation and uses. Chemical properties: redox properties, catalytic decomposition, acid-base behavior. Ionic peroxides and superoxides.
Binary Oxides
Classification according to the type of E-O bond. Structural Classification. Physical states and structures. Structures of the ionic oxides. Covalent oxides: denominations and periodic trends of structures and physical state. Covalent polymers. Metal oxides. Classification based on acid-base properties. Periodic trends of acid-base properties. Binary oxides of the block-s metals. Practical and environmental applications of volatile oxides and oxyacids. Industrial production of the most important oxyacids. Use of metal oxides; mixed metal oxides and non-stoichiometric metal oxides. Polynuclear Oxo Anions of block-p and -d elements.
The Halogens. Essential aspects. Atomic properties. Molecular structures, properties and reactivity. Production and uses. Compounds of the halogens.
Essential aspects of the chemistry of groups 1, 2, 13, 14 and 15.
In detail, silicones: an example of inorganic polymers.
Laboratory experiences.
The experiments were chosen in order to exemplify the concepts discussed in the theoretical part of the course and consist in the synthesis and characterization of compounds of the elements of the main groups, and experiences of their reactivity. An important aspect is the correlation between structure and properties of the studied compounds.