Chemistry as a Game of Molecular Construction

Chemistry as a Game of Molecular Construction: The Bond-Click Way utilizes an innovative and engaging approach to introduce students to the basic concepts and universal aspects of chemistry, with an emphasis on molecules' beauty and their importance in our lives. Offers a unique approach that portrays chemistry as a window into mankind's material-chemical essence Reveals the beauty of molecules through the "click" method, a teaching methodology comprised of the process of constructing molecules from building blocks Styles molecular construction in a way that reveals the universal aspect of chemistry Allows students to construct molecules, from the simple hydrogen molecule all the way to complex strands of DNA, thereby showing the overarching unity of matter * Provides problems sets and solutions for each chapter

Autorentext

Sason S. Shaik, PhD, is a Professor and the Director of the Lise Meitner-Minerva Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has been a Fulbright Fellow (1974-1979) and became a Fellow of the AAAS in 2005. Among his awards are the Israel Chemical Society Medal for the Outstanding Young Chemist (1987), the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Award in 1996-1999, the 2001 Kolthoff Award, the 2001 Israel Chemical Society Prize, and the 2007 Schrödinger Medal of WATOC. His research interests are in the use of quantum chemistry to develop paradigms that can pattern data and lead to the generation and solution of new problems. From 1981-1992, the main focus of his research was on valence bond theory and its relationship to MO theory, and during that time, he developed a general model of reactivity based on a blend of VB and MO elements. In 1994, he entered the field of oxidation and bond activation by metal oxo catalysts and enzymes, an area where he has contributed several seminal ideas (e.g., two-state reactivity) that led to resolution of major controversies and new predictions.

Zusammenfassung
Chemistry as a Game of Molecular Construction: The Bond-Click Way utilizes an innovative and engaging approach to introduce students to the basic concepts and universal aspects of chemistry, with an emphasis on molecules' beauty and their importance in our lives.

• Offers a unique approach that portrays chemistry as a window into mankind's material-chemical essence

• Reveals the beauty of molecules through the click method, a teaching methodology comprised of the process of constructing molecules from building blocks

• Styles molecular construction in a way that reveals the universal aspect of chemistry

• Allows students to construct molecules, from the simple hydrogen molecule all the way to complex strands of DNA, thereby showing the overarching unity of matter

• Provides problems sets and solutions for each chapter

Inhalt

FOREWORD xv

PREFACE xvii

Comments to the Teachers/Students xvii

A Conversation on the Textbook and Its Intended Readers xx

LECTURE 1 MOLECULAR BLUES 1

1.1 Conversation on Contents of Lecture 1 1

1.2 The Universal Aspect of Chemistry 2

1.3 Love, Addiction, Psychological Balance, etc. 2

1.4 The Chemical Mechanism of Neurotransmission 8

1.5 Molecules of Pleasure, Wellness, and Pair Bonding 10

1.6 More Chemical Control 13

1.7 The Chemical Matter 15

1.8 Molecular Architecture and Its Emergent Properties 18

1.8.1 Diamond, Graphite, and More 18

1.8.2 And There Was Light 19

1.9 Chirality, and the Magic by Which Molecules Recognize Others in Nature 21

1.10 Our Genetic Code Is Chemical 23

1.11 Chemistry and Its Emergent Expressions 24

1.12 References and Notes 26

1.A Appendix 29

1.A.1 Proposed Demonstrations 29

1.A.2 References for Appendix 1.A 31

1.R Retouches 31

1.R.1 More Drugs Looking like PEA 31

1.R.2 The Atomic Hypothesis 32

1.R.3 The Uncertainty Principle, The Exclusion Rule, and Valence 32

1.R.4 Units of Size 33

1.R.5 References for Retouches 33

LECTURE 2 THE CHEMICAL BOND AND THE LEGO PRINCIPLE 35

2.1 Conversation on Contents of Lecture 2 35

2.2 The Periodic Table: The Storehouse of Atoms 36

2.2.1 The Chemical Language 38

2.3 The LEGO Principle 40

2.3.1 The Covalent Bond in H2 41

2.4 The Bonding Capability of Atoms and The Law of Nirvana for Main Group Elements 44

2.4.1 The Valence Shell and Connectivity in a Family 45

2.4.2 The Octet and Duet Rules: The Law of Nirvana 46

2.5 Making Molecules Using the Available Atom Connectivity and The Law of Nirvana 48

2.5.1 Using the Table of Connectivity to Make Molecules That Attain Nirvana 50

2.5.2 Bonding in Atoms with Multiple Connectivity 53

2.6 The Principle of Conservation of the Number of Atoms in Chemical Reactions 56

2.7 Summary 57

2.8 References 59

2.A Appendix 59

2.R Retouches 60

2.R.1 Elements versus Atoms 60

2.R.2 Electron Pairing 61

2.R.3 Enzymes and Catalysis 61

2.R.4 Alchemy 62

2.R.5 References for Retouches 63

2.P Problem Set 63

LECTURE 3 ELECTRON-DEFICIENT MOLECULES, GIANT MOLECULES, AND CONNECTIVITY OF LARGE FRAGMENTS 65

3.1 Conversation on Contents of Lecture 3 65

3.2 Electron-Deficient Molecules 66

3.2.1 Electron-Deficient Free Radicals 68

3.3 The Power of Multiple Connectivity: SiO2A Giant Molecule 69

3.3.1 SiO2A Giant Molecule 69

3.3.2 Definitions of Terms That Follow from the SiO2 Story: Stoichiometry and Polymers 71

3.4 SiO2 and Glass Making 73

3.5 Glass Making from Water Glass 74

3.6 Must We Work So Hard to Construct Large Molecules? 75

3.6.1 Creating Larger Modular Building Blocks 75

3.6.2 Making New Molecules from the New Modular Fragments 75

3.7 Summary 80

3.8 References 81

3.A Appendix 81

3.A.1 Proposed Demonstrations 81

3.A.2 References for Appendix 3.A 82

3.R Retouches 82

3.R.1 Formal Charges 82

3.R.2 Multiple Bonds to Silicon 83

3.R.3 The Lone-Pair Bond Weakening Effect 83

3.R.4 The O2 Molecule and Its Magnetism 84

3.R.5 References for Retouches 86

3.P Problem Set 86

LECTURE 4 CONSTRUCTING MOLECULAR WORLDS OF CARBONHYDROGEN FROM LARGE LEGO FRAGMENTS 87

4.1 Conversation on Contents of Lecture 4 87

4.2 Molecular Chains Involving Only C and H 89

4.2.1 Extended Chains 89

4.2.2 Branched Chains and Isomerism 91

4.2.3 Isomers of Octane (C8H18) 93

4.2.4 Some Applications of Alkanes 94 4.3 Molecular Rings and Cages Made From CH...