Organometallics and Polymer Chemistry

The first half of this module will introduce organometallic chemistry, and cover aspects such as; bonding to low oxidation state metals, various coordination modes for ligands in organometallic compounds, in addition to the coordination of C-C multiple bonds & polyene type ligands. Reaction types for organometallic compounds, will be discussed in detail and their relevance to catalytic cycles. The second half of this module will introduce aspects of polymer chemistry. This will include synthetic mechanisms like step-growths and chain polymerisation, reaction kinetics as well as application examples of the most important classes of polymers, i.e. polyesters, polyamides and polyacrylates. The module will further introduce basic principles of polymer characterisation and polymer physics.