AJ Vasiliou

World of Chemistry
Science and technology greatly contribute to our happy and long lives. The goal of this course is to learn how chemistry impacts our daily lives in common and extraordinary ways. After learning basic concepts of elements, atoms, and molecules, we will explore topics in energy (nuclear, solar, batteries, fuel cells, fossil fuels, and metabolism), environmental issues (acid rain, global warming, and ozone depletion), health (food and drug), synthetic material, and art (color, forgery detection, and art restoration).

Advanced General Chemistry
This course is a one-semester alternative to one year of general chemistry (CHEM 0103 and CHEM 0104). It is open to all students who have received a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement test in Chemistry. Students who have two or more years of high school chemistry without AP credit may enroll with permission of the instructor. Topics will be drawn from the traditional general chemistry curriculum, but discussed in greater detail with a more thorough mathematical treatment. Special emphasis will be placed on chemical bonding, coordination chemistry, and real world research in chemistry. (AP Chemistry or equivalent.) 3 hrs. lect., 3 hrs. lab, 1 hr dis. .

Instrumental Analysis
In this course we will learn fundamental concepts of analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, and scientific writing. Lecture topics include experimental design and quality control; sample collection and preparation; calibration, error, and data analysis; statistics; and the theory and operation of chemical instrumentation. Multi-week laboratory projects provide hands-on experience in qualitative and quantitative analysis using a variety of research-quality instrumentation (e.g., UV/Vis spectrophotometry, gas chromatography mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). Writing workshops promote professional scientific writing skills through guided practice in writing analysis, peer review, and revision. (CHEM 0204 or CHEM 0242) 3 hr. lect., 6 hrs. lab.

Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Laboratory
In this course students will carry out experiments in the field of inorganic and physical chemistry and write journal-style reports based on their results. In the first half of the semester students will conduct a multi-step synthesis and characterization of a Mo-Mo complex with a quadruple bond. Students will learn inert atmosphere synthetic techniques and how to use a glove box. The synthesized Mo-Mo complex will be characterized by UV-Vis, IR, 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopies, and cyclic voltammetry. In the second half of the semester students will conduct two physical chemistry experiments. First students will carry out a kinetic study of the isomerization of the Mo-Mo (alpha to beta or beta to alpha) complex by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Finally, students will obtain the high-resolution IR spectra of acetylene and deuterated acetylene and analyze the rotation-vibration spectra using statistical and quantum mechanics to obtain structural data and interpret the peak intensities. In addition to the laboratory activities, there will be lectures on metal quadruple bonds, principles of UV-Vis , IR, 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopies, cyclic voltammetry, and statistical mechanics. (CHEM 0311, CHEM 0351, and CHEM 0355. CHEM 0355 can be taken concurrently.) 3 hrs. lect. 3 hrs. lab