The Trans Effect: A Guided-Inquiry Experiment for Upper-Division Inorganic Chemistry

摘要

Few guided-inquiry laboratories for upper-division inor-ganic chemistry exist in the literature, with the focus insteadbeing on traditional experiments in which students are directedto follow a procedure, and the results verify concepts alreadypresented (1-3). While traditional experiments dealing withisomers of coordination complexes are plentiful in this Journal(4-19), we describe a guided-inquiry laboratory in whichstudents synthesize the cis and trans isomers of a square-planarplatinum(II) complex and are guided to develop the trans effectconcept. The cis isomer, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II),cis-Pt(NH_3)_2Cl_2or cisplatin, is a chemotherapeutic that isused to treat a variety of cancers (20-26). The cis geometry ofcisplatin is important to the mechanism of anticancer activity,as cisplatin's geometric isomer, transplatin, is not viable as achemotherapeutic (26). This experiment gives students technicalexperience in microscale inorganic synthesis and stereochemicalanalysis while teaching them about coordination chemistry and the importance of metals in medicine. This experiment may beappropriate for students in inorganic chemistry, bioinorganicchemistry, or medicinal chemistry.