Below is a list of courses that Prof. Lavoie is currently teaching or has taught in the past. Interested students should refer to the Registrar’s website for more information. Students who are registered in these courses should refer themselves to the respective Moodle website for relevant course material and information.
CHEM 3030 – Transition Metal Chemistry
This course expands knowledge gained in earlier general chemistry and introductory inorganic and organic chemistry courses. The course focuses on the chemistry of d-block transition metals.
The chemistry of the transition metals is thus discussed from an historical perspective and within the context of modern theories of bonding, structure and spectroscopy. Topics include classical coordination compounds and their spectroscopy, organometallic complexes (including metallocenes, metal carbonyls and metal alkyls), their reactivity and use in catalysis.
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CHEM 3030 syllabus available here (subject to change).
CHEM 3070 – Industrial and Green Chemistry
The chemical industry has become a huge complex of operations that range from large multinational corporations to small, locally owned factories. Collectively, they manufacture materials and products that compose at least some part of almost every item used in our society today.
This course serves as an introduction to industrial and green chemistry. Various aspects related to the production of chemicals on a large scale will be presented, ranging from a general introduction of the chemical industry to specific manufacturing and legal issues.
CHEM 3090 – Introduction to Polymer Chemistry
This course serves as an introduction to polymer chemistry. The course deals with fundamental aspects with special focus on polymer synthesis, polymerization mechanisms, kinetics and key factors that governs molecular weight, polymer architecture and properties.
The purpose of the course is to introduce fundamental aspects of polymer chemistry and build upon knowledge gained in previous organic, inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry courses. Particular attention will be paid to the synthetic aspects of polymers, the understanding of reaction chemistry, of polymers physical properties and of the structure–property relationships. Students will also be introduced to the time-dependence behaviour of polymers.
CHEM 4031 – Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
CHEM 5031 – Advanced Transition Metal Chemistry
These courses are a continuation and builds upon concepts learned in lower level (SC/CHEM 1000-3000) inorganic courses. The courses emphasize the use of this knowledge to address issues and solve problems related to synthetic organometallic chemistry. Major approaches and reaction types encountered in organometallic chemistry will be presented. Topics include reactivity studies of organometallic complexes, their fluxional behaviour and analytical means to probe it. Special topics related to the use of organometallic complexes in dinitrogen fixation, metathesis, olefin polymerization and more will also be presented.
The purpose of the courses is to further expand the knowledge gained in previous introductory main group and transition metal chemistry courses. Particular attention will be paid to the synthetic aspects of organometallic chemistry and mechanistic understanding of reaction chemistry, and how those are being applied in current state-of-the-art chemistry research.
