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.
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.
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.
