SubjectsSubjects(version: 978)
Course, academic year 2025/2026
   
Chemistry of main group elements - MC240P55
Title: Chemie prvků hlavních skupin
Czech title: Chemie prvků hlavních skupin
Guaranteed by: Department of Inorganic Chemistry (31-240)
Faculty: Faculty of Science
Actual: from 2024
Semester: winter
E-Credits: 3
Examination process: winter s.:
Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
Capacity: unlimited
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
State of the course: taught
Language: Czech
Explanation: změna rozsahu od 2021 z 3/0 na 2/0
Additional information: http://dl2.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=1790
Note: enabled for web enrollment
priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
Guarantor: RNDr. Jiří Schulz, Ph.D.
Teacher(s): RNDr. Jiří Schulz, Ph.D.
Annotation -
An advanced lecture course in systematic inorganic chemistry focused on the main-group elements and their compounds. The course is built around periodic trends in atomic structure and elemental properties and examines how these trends govern bonding, structure, stability, and reactivity in inorganic systems. It covers the chemistry of hydrogen, the s-block, and Groups 13–18, combining a systematic survey of the principal classes of compounds with selected specialised topics, including boranes and related cluster compounds, fullerenes, silicates and siloxanes, phosphazenes and organophosphorus compounds, homo- and heterocatenation in chalcogen chemistry, interhalogen compounds, and xenon chemistry. The course also addresses methods of preparation and industrial production, practical applications, and the broader relationship between structure and chemical behaviour.
Last update: Schulz Jiří, RNDr., Ph.D. (16.04.2026)
Literature -

N. N. Greenwood, A. Earnshaw: Chemie prvků Informatorium, Praha 1993.

Z. Mička, I. Lukeš: Anorganická chemie I - Teoretická část, Praha 1998.

I. Lukeš, Z. Mička: Anorganická chemie II - Systematická část. Karolinum, Praha 1998.

C. E. Housecroft, A. G. Sharpe: Inorganic Chemistry, Pearson Education Ltd., Harlow 2008.

Last update: Kubíček Vojtěch, doc. RNDr., Ph.D. (08.06.2018)
Requirements to the exam -

The exam is combined – oral and written form.

 

 

 

Last update: Schulz Jiří, RNDr., Ph.D. (16.04.2026)
Syllabus -

1 Periodicity and the periodic table. Historical development of the periodic law and the periodic table. Periodic variation of atomic and ionic radii, ionization energies, electron affinities, and electronegativity. Oxidation states, metallic and non-metallic character, the inert pair effect, relativistic effects in heavier elements, and elements with very high atomic numbers.

2. Hydrogen and hydrides. Position of hydrogen in the periodic table, isotopes, preparation and industrial production of hydrogen, reactivity of H₂. Acid–base behaviour and hydrogen bonding. Molecular, ionic, interstitial, and coordination hydrides; general trends in hydride stability and reactivity.

3. Group 1 elements. Occurrence, preparation, and production of the alkali metals. Physical and chemical properties, reactivity, and group trends. Solutions of alkali metals in liquid ammonia. Oxides, peroxides, superoxides, hydroxides, halides, and other important compounds.

4. Group 2 elements. Occurrence, preparation, and production of the alkaline earth metals. Chemical reactivity, principal compounds, and group trends. Oxides, hydroxides, halides, hydrides, sulfates, and carbonates. Special features of beryllium and magnesium.

5. Boron and the chemistry of Group 13: boron. Structure and allotropy of boron, preparation, production, and purification. Borides, boron halides, boric acids, and borates. Boranes, carboranes, and related cluster compounds; electron-deficient bonding and the main structural types.

6. Aluminium, gallium, indium, and thallium. Occurrence, preparation, and production of the elements. Chemical reactivity, oxidation states, principal compounds, and trends within the group. Oxides, halides, hydroxo compounds, and coordination compounds. Ternary and more complex oxide phases containing aluminium.

7. Carbon. Allotropy of carbon. Diamond, graphite, graphite intercalation compounds, fullerenes, and fullerides. Carbides and carbon–nitrogen compounds. Hydrides, halides, oxides, and oxoacids of carbon; carbonates and hydrogencarbonates.

8. Silicon. Occurrence, isolation, and production. Chemical properties, silicon hydrides, and halides. Silicon dioxide, silicic acids, silicates, and aluminosilicates, including the main structural classes of silicates. Organosilicon compounds, siloxanes, and silicones.

9. Germanium, tin, and lead. Occurrence, preparation, and production. Oxidation states and the inert pair effect. Chemical reactivity, principal compounds, and trends within the group. Halides, oxides, chalcogenides, and selected Zintl phases and clusters.

10. Nitrogen. Occurrence, isolation, and production. Bonding peculiarities of nitrogen, nitrides, and azides. Ammonia and other nitrogen hydrides. Nitrogen halides. Oxides, oxoacids, and oxoanions of nitrogen; fundamentals of the thermodynamics of redox transformations of nitrogen compounds.

11. Phosphorus. Occurrence, isolation, and production. Allotropes of phosphorus and their properties. Phosphides, phosphines, and phosphorus halides. Oxides, sulfides, oxosulfides, and oxoacids of phosphorus. Phosphazenes, nitrogen–phosphorus compounds, and selected organophosphorus compounds.

12. Arsenic, antimony, and bismuth. Occurrence, preparation, and production. Chemical reactivity, principal compounds, and trends within the group. Hydrides, halides, oxides, sulfides, oxoacids, and the role of the inert pair effect.

13. Oxygen. Occurrence, preparation, and production. Oxygen, ozone, and their reactivity. Water, the structure and properties of water, aqueous solutions, and water in hydrates. Hydrogen peroxide and related peroxo compounds. Oxides of the elements and their classification.

14. Sulfur. Occurrence, preparation, and production. Allotropes of sulfur. Homo- and heterocatenation, S–S bonding, and polysulfanes. Sulfides, sulfur halides, oxides, oxoacids, and polythionates. Selected sulfur–nitrogen compounds.

15. Selenium, tellurium, and polonium. Occurrence, preparation, and production. Chemical reactivity, principal compounds, and trends within the group. Hydrides, halides, oxides, oxoacids, and comparison with sulfur chemistry.

16. Halogens. Occurrence, preparation, and production. Chemical reactivity, oxidation states, and trends within the group. Hydrogen halides. Interhalogen compounds, polyhalides, oxides, oxoacids, oxoanions, and oxyfluorides of the halogens; mutual redox interconversions of halogen compounds.

17. Noble gases. Occurrence, isolation, physical properties, and uses. Chemical inertness and its limits. Xenon compounds, their types, structures, and reactivity.

Last update: Schulz Jiří, RNDr., Ph.D. (16.04.2026)
Learning outcomes -

Upon completion of the course, the student:

  • understands periodic trends in the structure and properties of the main-group elements and is able to use them to explain the chemical behaviour of the elements and their compounds;
  • is familiar with the systematic chemistry of hydrogen, the s-block elements, and the elements of Groups 13–18, including their most important classes of compounds, methods of preparation, and characteristic reactions;
  • is able to describe the relationships between electronic structure, the type of chemical bonding, molecular or crystal structure, and the stability of inorganic compounds;
  • can explain general group trends in the acid–base, redox, and structural properties of compounds of the main-group elements;
  • is familiar with the chemical and structural features of selected important classes of compounds, such as boranes and other boron cluster compounds, fullerenes, silicates and siloxanes, phosphazenes, compounds containing S–S bonds, interhalogen compounds, and xenon compounds;
  • is able to compare the chemistry of individual groups of the periodic table and to account for both similarities and differences between elements on the basis of their position in the periodic table;
  • is able to interpret and formulate concepts related to the systematic inorganic chemistry of the main-group elements correctly and using appropriate scientific terminology.
Last update: Schulz Jiří, RNDr., Ph.D. (16.04.2026)
 
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