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. Dihydrogen: manufacture and uses. Reactions and activation of dihydrogen. Hydrogen economy. Fuel cells.
Binary hydrides. Nature of the E-H bond. Ionic, metallic and covalent hydrides.
Hydrogen bond general features. Structural features. Effects on the physical and chemical properties.
Chalcogens
Atomic properties. Industrial production and uses of chalcogens.
Oxygen
Atomic properties. Production and uses. Molecular Oxygen in the Singlet State. Chemical Properties of Dioxygen. Ozone: preparation, uses and reactivity. Water, general properties and stability range. Hydrogen peroxide: preparation and uses; chemical and redox properties; catalytic decomposition; acid-base behavior.
Binary Oxides
Classification according to the type of E-O bond. Classification based on acid-base properties. Periodic trends of acid-base properties.
Covalent and ionic oxides: periodic trends of structures and physical state. Metal oxides. Binary oxides, peroxides and superoxides of the s-block metals.
Oxyacids and oxo Anions.
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.
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.