Chemistry (2002-2003)

Admission | Courses | Program | Requirements

Department Chairperson: N. M. Made Gowda
Graduate Committee Chairperson: Lisa Wen
Department Office: Currens Hall 214
Department Telephone: 309/298-1538 Fax: 309/298-2180
WWW Address: www.wiu.edu/users/michem/
Location of Program Offering: Macomb only

Graduate Faculty

• Professors
  • N. M. Made Gowda, Ph.D., University of Mysore
  • Lisa Wen, Ph.D., Kansas State University
• Associate Professors
  • D. A. Bath, Ph.D., Montana State University
  • R. J. Terry, Ph.D., Loyola University
  • T. K. Vinod, Ph.D., University of Victoria
• Assistant Professor
  • J. W. Hartman, Ph.D., Montana State University
  • Jeng-Kuen Huang, Ph.D., Kansas State University
  • Daniel J. Swart, Ph.D., University of Iowa
• Adjunct Faculty
  • W.E.Klopfenstein, Ph.D., Penn State University
  • M.Venugopalan, Ph.D., Banaras Hindu University

Program Description

The Department of Chemistry offers work leading to the Master of Science degree through either a thesis plan or an applied plan (see degree requirements). The program is designed to prepare graduate students for continuation to the Ph.D. or other professional training, or for immediate employment in advanced positions in government, industry, or education. Through thesis and internship options, the program accommodates individual career objectives for those with degrees in chemistry and allied fields and allows those with minors in chemistry to pursue advanced work and placement in the field. The department also provides inservice training to chemists and chemical educators who are not candidates for the M.S. degree.

Admission Requirements

Students selecting chemistry as a graduate major are expected to have completed 32 semester hours of undergraduate work in the areas of general, organic, analytical, inorganic, and physical chemistry. With permission of the department, students with at least an undergraduate minor in chemistry may be accepted into the program. Students without one year of physical chemistry shall be required to take this course as part of their graduate program.

Degree Requirements

1. General Requirements
   1. Diagnostic examinations in the fields of analytical chemistry, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry are administered at the time the student registers for graduate work in chemistry. The Graduate Committee may require students to remedy deficiencies in their undergraduate preparation on the basis of the diagnostic examinations.
   2. A minimum of twelve semester hours of chemistry must be at the 500 level.
   3. A maximum of nine semester hours may be transferred from another institution. Such transfer credit will require approval of the Departmental Graduate Committee.
2. Applied Chemistry
   This plan is designed for those interested in graduate training for careers in specific areas such as pollution control, forensic chemistry, agricultural chemistry, chemical production, energy, and material resources utilization. An integral part of this program is an internship whereby the student will spend one semester at a cooperating industrial or government laboratory. The Graduate Committee requires students to submit an internship report and present an oral defense following the internship.
   
   Those students in applied chemistry who are interested in teaching at the secondary or two-year college level are advised to have satisfied the academic requirements for teacher certification. The internship for these students will be spent at WIU on special projects within the general chemistry program. Eight semester hours of work in education may be taken, and as many as five semester hours of CHEM 575-579 may be counted toward the degree.
   
   Students may elect a minimum of eight hours of study in cognate fields, as approved by the Departmental Graduate Committee, to compliment their program. Cognate fields, which students in the applied chemistry plan might consider, include (but are not limited to)
   agriculture, biological sciences, computer sciences, law enforcement, or geology.
   
   1. CHEM 580 Seminar: 2 s.h.
   2. CHEM 590 Internship(2–10): 10 s.h.
   3. CHEM 591 Internship Report: 2 s.h.
   4. Electives in cognate area: 8 s.h.
   5. Chemistry Electives at 500 level Minimum: 10 s.h.
      TOTAL PROGRAM: 32 s.h.
3. Thesis
   This plan is available for those students who wish to continue their professional training with graduate work emphasizing research.
   
   Students may elect a minimum of eight hours of study in cognate fields, as approved by the Departmental Graduate Committee, to complement their program. Cognate fields, which students in the thesis plan might consider, include physics, biological sciences, mathematics, or computer science.
   
   1. CHEM 580 Seminar: 2 s.h.
   2. CHEM 600 Research: 12-18 s.h.
   3. CHEM 601 Thesis: 3 s.h.
   4. Directed Electives: 15 s.h.
      TOTAL PROGRAM: 32 s.h.

An oral examination covering the thesis work will be given following completion of the thesis.

Course Descriptions

401G Inorganic Chemistry III. (4) Chemistry of transition and nontransition elements and their compounds, nomenclature, stereochemistry, symmetry, basic group theory, bonding, solids, and acid-base theories. Laboratory involves synthesis and physicochemical measurements of selected compounds. (Three lectures and one three-hour laboratory per week.) Prerequisites: CHEM 332 and 375.

416G Chemical Literature. (1) An introduction to searching the chemical research literature. (One lecture per week.) Prerequisite: Eighteen semester hours of chemistry.

421G Biochemistry. (4) The chemistry of major cellular constituents and their metabolism. (Three lectures and one three-hour laboratory per week.) Prerequisite: CHEM 330 or CHEM 332.

429G Biochemistry Topics. (1–5) Advanced topics in biochemistry arranged in one- or two-credit hour blocks to accommodate special interests. Students may take one or any combination of the special topics offered in a given semester. Prerequisite: CHEM 421.

442G Analytical Chemistry. (5) Theory and practice of analytical chemistry with emphasis on selected instrumental techniques. (Three lectures and two three-hour laboratories per week.) Prerequisites: CHEM 341 and one semester of physical chemistry.

453G Advanced Chemical Synthesis. (3) A laboratory-oriented course dealing with synthesis utilizing sophisticated procedures, including methods used to isolate, purify, and characterize the products. (One lecture and two three-hour laboratories per week.) Prerequisites: CHEM 333 or permission of the instructor.

500 Special Topics. (1–4, repeatable to 8) Lectures on topics of current interest which may be supplemented by outside speakers or audio tutorial material from the American Chemical Society.

503 Principles of Chemistry. (3) Chemical bonding and structure of organic and inorganic compounds. Prerequisites: CHEM 332 and 375.

507 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. (3) Kinetics and mechanisms of reactions of inorganic and organometallic complexes. Selected topics include ligand substitution, oxidative addition, reductive elimination, and electron transfer reactions and industrial processes using homogeneous catalysis. Prerequisite: CHEM 401.

521 Advanced Biochemistry. (3) An advanced treatment of biochemical topics selected on the basis of student interest and background. Prerequisite: CHEM 421.

534 Advanced Organic Chemistry. (3) Reactions, mechanisms, and structure of organic compounds. Prerequisites: CHEM 332 and 375.

541 Advanced Analytical Chemistry. (4) An advanced treatment of selected topics in analytical chemistry with emphasis on chemical instrumentation. Prerequisites: CHEM 442 and 375.

542 Environmental Chemistry. (4) Selected studies of sources, reactions, transport effects, and fates of chemical species in the water, soil, and air environments; and the applications of current analytical techniques to the analysis of selected samples. Prerequisite: CHEM 442.

550 Summer Workshop for High School Chemistry Teachers I. (2, repeatable) A course designed to meet the special needs of high school chemistry teachers, offered in consultation with local school districts. Sections for the workshops may have different subtitles and the format will vary depending on the topics chosen each year. Repeatable. Prerequisites: Graduate standing and permission of the instructor.

551 Summer Workshop for High School Chemistry Teachers II. (2, repeatable) A continuation of CHEM 550.

552 Summer Workshop for High School Chemistry Teachers III. (2, repeatable) A continuation of CHEM 551.

553 Summer Workshop for High School Chemistry Teachers IV. (2, repeatable) A continuation of CHEM 552.

554 Summer Workshop for High School Chemistry Teachers V. (2, repeatable) A continuation of CHEM 553.

580 Seminar. (1) Repeatable.

590 Internship. (2–10, repeatable to 10) Internship experience in cooperating industrial laboratory, government laboratory, or chemical educational program at WIU. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor to enroll.

591 Internship Report. (2) An oral and written report of the internship experience.

600 Research. (2–12) Repeatable.

601 Thesis. (3)