GATE Syllabus - Chemistry

Physical Chemistry

Structure:

Quantum theory - principles and techniques -- applications to particle in a box, harmonic oscillator, rigid rotor and hydrogen atom -- valence bond and molecular orbital theories and Huckel approximation, Approximate Techniques: variation and perturbation -- symmetry, point groups -- rotational, vibrational, electronic, NMR and ESR spectroscopy.

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Equilibrium:

First Law of thermodynamics, heat, energy and work -- second law of thermodynamics and entropy -- third law and absolute entropy -- free energy -- partial molar quantities -- ideal and non ideal solutions -- phase transformation: phase rule and phase diagram - one, two, and three component systems -- activity, activity coefficient, fugacity and fugacity coefficient -- chemical equilibrium, response of chemical equilibrium to temperature and pressure -- colligative properties -- thermodynamics of electrochemical cells -- standard electrode potentials -- applications - corrosion and energy conversion -- molecular partition function (translational, rotational, vibrational and electronic). Kinetic theory of gases.

Kinetics:

Rates of chemical reactions, theories of reaction rates, collision and transition state theory -- temperature dependence of chemical reactions -- elementary reactions, consecutive elementary reactions -- steady state approximation, kinetics of photochemical reactions and free radical polymerization, homogenous and heterogeneous catalysis.

Solids:

Crystal systems and lattices, Miller planes, crystal packing, crystal defects -- Bragg's Law -- ionic crystals, band theory, metals and semiconductors.

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Inorganic Chemistry

Non-Transition elements:

General characteristics, structure and reactions of simple and industrially important compounds, boranes, carboranes, silicates, silicones, diamond and graphite -- hydrides, oxides and oxoacids of N, P, S and halogens -- boron nitride, borazines and phosphazenes -- xenon compounds. Shapes of molecules, Hard-Soft acid base concept, Spinels.

Transition Elements:

General characterstics of d and f block elements -- Coordination Chemistry: structure and isomerism, stability, theories of metal-ligand bonding (CFT and LFT), electronic spectra and magnetic properties of transition metal complexes and lanthanides -- metal carbonyls, metal-metal bonds and metal atom clusters, metallocenes -- transition metal complexes with bonds to hydrogen, alkyls, alkenes, and arenes -- metal carbenes -- use of organometallic compounds as catalysts in organic synthesis -- mechanisms of substitution and electron transfer reactions of coordination complexes -- role of metals with special reference to Na, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Co, Zn, and Mo in biological systems.

Instrumental methods of analysis:

atomic absorption, uv-visible spectrometry, chromatographic and electro-analytical methods.

Organic Chemistry

Reactions, synthesis and mechanism involving the following: Alkenes, alkynes, arenes, alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and their derivatives -- halides, nitro compounds and amines -- stereochemical and conformational effects on reactivity and specificity. Oxidation with diborane and peracids. Michael reaction, Robinson annulation, Reactivity umpolung, acyl anion equivalents.

Photochemistry:

Basic principles, photochemistry of olefins, carbonyl compounds, arenes, photo oxidation and reduction.

Pericyclic reactions:

Cycloadditions, electrocyclic reactions, Sigmatropic reactions -- Woodward-Hoffman rules. Molecular rearrangements involving electron deficient atoms.

Heterocycles:

Structural properties and reactions of furan, pyrrole, thiophene, pyridine, indole.

Biomolecules:

Structure, properties and reactions of mono and di-saccharides, physico-chemical properties of amino acids, structural features of proteins and nucleic acids.

Spectroscopy:

Principles and applications of IR, UV-visible, NMR and mass spectrometry in the determination of structures of organic compounds.