GATE Syllabus for Chemistry
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Structure: Quantum theory: principles and techniques;
applications to a particle in a box, harmonic oscillator, rigid rotor
and hydrogen atom; valence bond and molecular orbital theories, Huckel
approximation; approximate techniques: variation and perturbation;
symmetry, point groups; rotational, vibrational, electronic, NMR, and
ESR spectroscopy.
Equilibrium: Kinetic theory of gases; First law of
thermodynamics, heat, energy, and work; second law of thermodynamics
and entropy; third law and absolute entropy; free energy; partial molar
quantities; ideal and non-ideal solutions; phase transformation: phase
rule and phase diagrams - one, two, and three component systems;
activity, activity coefficient, fugacity, and fugacity coefficient;
chemical equilibrium, response of chemical equilibrium to temperature
and pressure; colligative properties; Debye-Huckel theory;
thermodynamics of electrochemical cells; standard electrode potentials:
applications - corrosion and energy conversion; molecular partition
function (translational, rotational, vibrational, and electronic).
Kinetics: Rates of chemical reactions, temperature dependence of
chemical reactions; elementary, consecutive, and parallel reactions;
steady state approximation; theories of reaction rates - collision and
transition state theory, relaxation kinetics, kinetics of photochemical
reactions and free radical polymerization, homogeneous catalysis,
adsorption isotherms and heterogeneous catalysis.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Main group elements: General characteristics, allotropes,
structure and reactions of simple and industrially important compounds:
boranes, carboranes, silicones, silicates, boron nitride, borazines and
phosphazenes. Hydrides, oxides and oxoacids of pnictogens (N, P),
chalcogens (S, Se & Te) and halogens, xenon compounds, pseudo
halogens and interhalogen compounds. Shapes of molecules and hard- soft
acid base concept. Structure and Bonding (VBT) of B, Al, Si, N, P, S,
Cl compounds. Allotropes of carbon: graphite, diamond, C60. Synthesis
and reactivity of inorganic polymers of Si and P.
Transition Elements: General characteristics of d and f block
elements; coordination chemistry: structure and isomerism, stability,
theories of metal- ligand bonding (CFT and LFT), mechanisms of
substitution and electron transfer reactions of coordination complexes.
Electronic spectra and magnetic properties of transition metal
complexes, lanthanides and actinides. Metal carbonyls, metal- metal
bonds and metal atom clusters, metallocenes; transition metal complexes
with bonds to hydrogen, alkyls, alkenes and arenes; metal carbenes; use
of organometallic compounds as catalysts in organic synthesis.
Bioinorganic chemistry of Na, K. Mg, Ca, Fe, Co, Zn, Cu and Mo.
Solids: Crystal systems and lattices, miller planes, crystal
packing, crystal defects; Bragg's Law, ionic crystals, band theory,
metals and semiconductors, Different structures of AX, AX2, ABX3
compounds, spinels.
Instrumental methods of analysis: Atomic absorption and emission
spectroscopy including ICP-AES, UV- visible spectrophotometry, NMR,
mass, Mossbauer spectroscopy (Fe and Sn), ESR spectroscopy,
chromatography including GC and HPLC and electro-analytical methods
(Coulometry, cyclic voltammetry, polarography - amperometry, and ion
selective electrodes).
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Stereochemistry: Chirality of organic molecules with or without
chiral centres. Specification of configuration in compounds having one
or more stereogenic centres. Enantiotopic and diastereotopic atoms,
groups and faces. Stereoselective and stereospecific synthesis.
Conformational analysis of acyclic and cyclic compounds. Geometrical
isomerism. Configurational and conformational effects on reactivity and
selectivity/specificity.
Reaction mechanism: Methods of determining reaction mechanisms.
Nucleophilic and electrophilic substitutions and additions to multiple
bonds. Elimination reactions. Reactive intermediates- carbocations,
carbanions, carbenes, nitrenes, arynes, free radicals. Molecular
rearrangements involving electron deficient atoms.
Organic synthesis: Synthesis, reactions, mechanisms and
selectivity involving the following- alkenes, alkynes, arenes,
alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and their
derivatives, halides, nitro compounds and amines. Use of compounds of
Mg, Li, Cu, B and Si in organic synthesis. Concepts in multistep
synthesis- retrosynthetic analysis, disconnections, synthons, synthetic
equivalents, reactivity umpolung, selectivity, protection and
deprotection of functional groups.
Pericyclic reactions: Electrocyclic, cycloaddition and sigmatropic reactions. Orbital correlation, FMO and PMO treatments.
Photochemistry: Basic principles. Photochemistry of alkenes,
carbonyl compounds, and arenes. Photooxidation and photoreduction.
Di-p- methane rearrangement, Barton reaction.
Heterocyclic compounds: Structure, preparation, properties and reactions of furan, pyrrole, thiophene, pyridine, indole and their derivatives.
Biomolecules: Structure, properties and reactions of mono- and
di-saccharides, physicochemical properties of amino acids, chemical
synthesis of peptides, structural features of proteins, nucleic acids,
steroids, terpenoids, carotenoids, and alkaloids.
Spectroscopy: Principles and applications of UV-visible, IR, NMR
and Mass spectrometry in the determination of structures of organic
molecules.