Draft Syllabus for Topics for the IChO

Classification of the chemical topics

Group 1:
These topics are included in the overwhelming majority of secondary school chemistry programs.
Group 2:
These topics are included in a substantial number of secondary school programs; however, if not covered, it would be expected that the Olympiad level students from every country would have been introduced to these topics.
Group 3:
These topics are not included in the majority of secondary school programs.
For a host nation it is not necessary to have preparatory problems on Group 1 and Group 2 topics, although, in the latter case, a listing of the specific topics of that Group which might be part of the Olympiad Examination is to be given by the host nation. Any topics in Group 3 which might appear on the Olympiad Examination must be covered in the preparatory problems.

INORGANIC CHEMISTRY Group
ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION
1 main groups 1
2 transition metals 2
3 lanthanide and actinide metals 3
4 Pauli exclusion Principle 1
5 Hund's Rule 1
TRENDS IN THE PERIODIC TABLE (MAIN GROUPS)
6 electronegativity 1
7 electron affinity 2
8 first ionization energy 2
9 atomic size 1
10 ionic size 2
11 highest oxidation number 1
TRENDS IN PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (MAIN GROUPS)
12 melting point 1
13 boiling point 1
14 metal character 1
15 magnetic properties 2
16 thermal properties 3
STRUCTURES
17 metal structures 3
18 ionic crystal structures
simple molecular structures with central atom
3
19 exceeding the octet rule 3
20 stereochemistry 3
NOMENCLATURE
21 main group compounds 1
22 transition metal compounds 1
23 simple metal complexes 2
24 multicenter metal complexes 3
25 coordination number 1
STOICHIOMETRY
26 balancing equations 1
27 mass and volume relationships 1
28 empirical formula 1
29 Avogadro's number 1
30 concentration calculations 1
ISOTOPES
31 counting of nucleons 1
32 radioactive decay 1
33 nuclear reaction (alpha, beta, gamma, neutrino) 2
NATURAL CYCLES
34 nitrogen 2
35 oxygen 2
36 carbon 2
s-BLOCK
  products of reaction of group I and II metals
37 with water, basicity of the products 1
38 products of reaction of the metals with halogens 1
39 products of reaction of the metals with oxygen 2
40 heavier elements are more reactive 1
41 Li combines with H2 and N2, forming LiH and Li3N 2
p-BLOCK
42 stoichiometry of simplest nonmetal hydrides 1
43 properties of metal hydrides 3
44 acid/base properties of CH4, NH3, H2S, H2O, HX 1
45 NO reaction with O2 to form NO2 1
46 equilibrium between NO2 and N2O4 1
47 products of reaction of NO2 with water 1
48 HNO2 and its salts are reductants 1
49 HNO3 and its salts are oxidants 1
50 N2H4 is a liquid and reductant 3
51 there exists acids like H2N2O2,HN3 3
52 to remember, what are products of reduction of nitrates
or HNO3 with different metals and reductants
3
53 reaction of Na2S2O3 with iodine 2
54 other thioacids polyacids, peroxoacids
B(III), Al(III), Si(IV), P(V) S(IV), S(VI), O(II), F(I), Cl(I)
Cl(III), Cl(V) and Cl(VIII) are normal oxidation states
of 2nd and 3rd row elements in compounds
3
55 with halogens and in oxoanions 1
56 compounds of nonmetals with other oxidation states 3
57 the preferred oxidation states are Sn(II), Pb(II), Bi(III) 2
58 products of reactions of nonmetal oxides with water
and stoichiometry of resulting acids
1
59 reactions of halogens with water 2
60 reactivity and oxidizing power of halogens decrease
from F2 to I2
1
61 differences of chemistry between row 4 and row 3 elements 3
d-BLOCK
62 common oxidation states of the common d-block metals
are Cr(III), Cr(VI), Mn(II), Mn(IV), Mn(VII),
Fe(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(I), Cu(II), Ag(I),
Zn(II), Hg(I), Hg(II)
1
63 colors of the listed common ions in aqueous solution 2
64 other oxidation states and chemistry of other d-block elements 3
65 Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Zn dissolve in dil HCI;
Cu, Ag, Hg do not dissolve
1
66 products of the dissolution are (2+) cations 2
67 passivation of Cr, Fe (and also Al) 2
  Cr(OH)3 and Zn(OH)2 are amphoteric,
other common hydroxides are not
1
68 MnO4-, CrO42-,Cr2O72- are strong oxidants 1
69 products of reduction of MnO4- depending on pH 2
70 polyanions other than Cr2O72- 3
OTHER INORGANIC PROBLEMS
71 industrial production of H2SO4, NH3, Na2CO3, Na, Cl2, NaOH 1
72 chemistry of lanthanides and actinides 3
73 chemistry of noble gases 3
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY Group
ALKANES
74 isomers of butane 1
75 naming (IUPAC) 1
76 trends in physical properties 1
  substitution (eg with Cl2)  
77 - products 1
78 - free radicals 2
79 - initiation/termination of the chain reaction 2
80 cycloalkanes - names 1
81 - strain in small rings 2
82 - chair/boat conformation 2
ALKENES
83 planarity 1
84 E/Z (cis/trans) isomerism 1
85 addition of Br2, HBr - products 1
86 - Markovnikoff's rule 2
87 - carbonium ions in addition reaction 3
88 - relative stability of carbonium ions 3
89 - 1,4-addition to alkadienes 3
ALKYNES
90 linear geometry 1
91 acidity 2
ARENES
92 formula of benzene 1
93 delocalization of electrons 1
94 stabilisation by resonance 1
95 Huckel (4n+2) rule 3
96 aromaticity of heterocycles 3
97 nomenclature (IUPAC) of heterocycles 3
98 polycyclic aromatic compounds 3
99 effect of first substituent: - on reactivity 2
100 - on direction of substitution 2
101 explanation of substituent effects 2
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
102 hydrolysis reactions 2
103 exchange of halogens 3
104 reactivity (primary vs secondary vs tertiary) 2
105 ionic mechanism 2
106 side products (elimination) 2
107 reactivity (aliphatic vs aromatic) 2
108 Wurtz (RX + Na) reaction 3
109 halogen derivatives & pollution 3
ALCOHOLS, PHENOLS
110 hydrogen bonding - alcohols vs ethers 1
111 acidity of alcohols vs phenols 2
112 dehydration to alkenes 1
113 dehydration to ethers 2
114 esters with inorganic acids 2
115 iodoform reaction 2
116 reactions of primary, secondary and tertiary: Lucas reagent 2
117 formula of glycerin 1
CARBONYL COMPOUNDS
118 nomenclature 1
119 keto/enol tautomerism 2
120 preparation - oxidation of alcohols 1
121 - from carbon monoxide 3
122 reactions: - oxidation of aldehydes 1
123 - reduction with Zn metal 2
124 - addition of HCN 2
125 of NaHSO3 2
126 of NH2OH 2
127 - aldol condensation 3
128 - Cannizzaro (PhCH2OH disproportionation) 3
129 - Grignard reaction 2
130 - Fehling (Cu2O) and Tollens (Ag mirror) 2
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
131 inductive effect and strength 2
132 equivalence of oxygen atoms in anions 2
133 preparation: - from esters 2
134 - from nitriles 2
135 products of reaction with alcohols (esters) 1
136 mechanism of esterification 2
137 isotopes in mechanism elucidation 3
138 nomenclature: acid halides 2
139 preparation of acid chlorides 2
140 amides from acid chlorides 2
141 nitriles from acid chlorides 3
142 properties & preparation of anhydrides 2
143 oxalic acid: name and formula 1
144 multifunctional acids 2
145 optical activity (eg. lactic acid) 2
146 R/S nomenclature 3
147 plant vs animal fats - differences 2
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
148 amines are basic 1
149 comparing aliphatic vs aromatic 2
150 names: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary 2
151 identification of primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary in laboratory 3
  preparation of amines
152 - from halogen compounds 2
153 - from nitro compounds (PhNH2 from PhNO2) 3
154 - from amides (Hoffmann) 3
155 mechanism of Hoffmann rearrangement in acidic/basic medium 3
156 basicity amines vs amides 2
  diazotation products
157 -of aliphatic amines 3
158 -of aromatic amines 3
159 dyes: color vs structure (chromophore groups) 3
160 nitro compounds: aci/nitro tautomerism 3
161 Beckmann (oxime - amide) rearrangements 3
SOME LARGE MOLECULES
162 hydrophilic/hydrophobic groups 2
163 micelle structure 3
164 preparation of soaps 1
  products of polymerization of
165 - styrene 2
166 - ethene 1
167 - polyamides 3
168 - phenol + aldehydes 3
169 - polyurethanes 3
170 polymers - cross-linking 3
171 -structures (isotactic etc) 3
172 - chain mechanism of formation 2
173 rubber composition 3
BIOCHEMISTRY Group
AMINO ACIDS AND PEPTIDES
174 ionic structure of aminoacids 1
175 isoelectric point 2
176 20 aminoacids (classification in groups) 2
177 20 aminoacids (all structures) 3
178 ninhydrin reaction (incl. equation) 3
179 separation by chromatography 3
180 separation by electrophoresis 3
181 peptide linkage 1
PROTEINS
182 primary structure of proteins 1
183 -S-S-bridges 3
184 sequence analysis 3
185 secondary structures 3
186 details of alpha-helix structure 3
187 tertiary structure 3
188 denaturation by change of pH, temperature, metals, ethanol 2
189 quaternary structure 3
190 separation of proteins (molecule size and solubility) 3
191 metabolism of proteins (general) 3
192 proteolysis 3
193 transamination 3
194 four pathways of catabolism of amino acids 3
195 decarboxylation of amino acids 3
196 urea cycle (only results) 3
FATTY ACIDS AND FATS
197 IUPAC names from C4 to C18 2
198 trival names of most important (ca 5) f.acids 2
199 general metabolism of fats 3
200 beta-oxidation of fatty acids (formulas & ATP balance) 3
201 fatty acids & fats anabolism 3
202 phosphoglycerides 3
203 membranes 3
204 active transport 3
ENZYMES
205 general properties, active centres 2
206 nomenclature, kinetics, coenzymes, function of ATP etc 3
CARBOHYDRATES
207 glucose and fructose:chain formulas 2
208 - Fischer projections 2
209 - Haworth formulas 3
210 osazones 3
211 maltose as reducing sugar 2
212 difference between starch & cellulose 2
213 difference between alpha- and beta-D glucose 2
214 metabolism from starch to acetyl-CoA 3
215 pathway to lactic acid or to ethanol;catabolism of glucose 3
216 ATP balance for these pathways 3
217 photosynthesis (products only) 2
218 light and dark reaction 3
219 detailed Calvin cycle 3
KREBS CYCLE AND RESPIRATION CHAIN
220 formation of CO2 in the cycle (no details) 3
221 intermediate compounds in the cycle 3
222 formation of water and ATP (no details) 3
223 FMN and cytochromes 3
224 calculation of ATP amount for 1 mol glucose 3
NUCLEIC ACIDS AND PROTEIN SYNTHESES
225 pyrimidine, purine 2
226 nucleosides, nucleotides 3
227 formulas of all pyrimidine and purine bases 3
228 difference between ribose and 2-deoxyribose 3
229 base combination CG and AT 3
230 CG and AT hydrogen bonding structures 3
231 difference between DNA and RNA 3
232 difference between mRNA and tRNA 3
233 hydrolysis of nucleic acids 3
234 semiconservative replication of DNA 3
235 DNA-ligase 3
236 RNA synthesis (transcription) without details 3
237 reverse transcriptase 3
238 use of genetic code 3
239 start and stop codons 3
240 translation steps 3
OTHER BIOCHEMISTRY
241 hormones, regulation 3
242 hormone feedback 3
243 insulin, glucagon, adrenaline 3
244 mineral metabolism (no details) 3
245 ions in blood 3
246 buffers in blood 3
247 haemoglobin: function & skeleton 3
248 - diagram of oxygen absorption 3
249 steps of clotting the blood 3
250 antigens and antibodies 3
251 blood groups 3
252 acetyl choline structure and functions 3
INSTRUMENTAL METHODS OF DETERMINING STRUCTURE Group
UV-VIS SPECTROSCOPY
253 identification of aromatic compound 3
254 identification of chromophore 3
MASS SPECTRA
255 recognition of - molecular ion 3
256 - fragments with a help of a table 3
257 - typical isotope distribution 3
Infrared
258 interpretation using a table of group frequencies 3
259 recognition of hydrogen bonds 3
260 Raman spectroscopy 3
NMR
261 interpret. of simple spectrum (like ethanol) 3
262 spin-spin coupling 3
263 coupling constants 3
264 identification of o- and p- substituted benzene 3
265 13C-NMR 3
X-RAYS
266 Bragg law 3
267 electron density diagrams 3
268 coordination number 3
269 unit cell 3
270 structure of NaCl 3
271 structure of CsCl 3
272 close-packed structures (2 types) 3
273 determining of the Avogadro constant from X-ray data 3
POLARIMETRY
274 calculation of specific rotation angle 3
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY Group
CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIA
275 dynamical model of chemical equilibrium 1
  chemical equilibrium expressed in terms of
276 - relative concentration 1
277 - relative partial pressures 2
278 the relationship between equilibrium constant for
ideal gases expressed in different ways (concentrations,
pressures, mole fractions)
2
279 relation of equilibrium constant and standard Gibbs energy 3
IONIC EQUILIBRIA
280 Arrhenius theory of acids and bases 1
281 Broensted-Lowry theory, conjugated acids & bases 1
282 definition of pH 1
283 ionic product of water 1
284 relation between Ka, and Kb for conjugate acids & bases 1
285 hydrolysis of salts 1
286 solubility product - definition 1
287 calculation of solubility (in water) from solubility product 1
288 calculation of pH for weak acid from Ka 1
289 calculation of pH for 10- 7 mol/dm3 HCI 2
290 calculation of pH for multiprotic acids 2
291 definition of activity coefficient 2
292 definition of ionic strength 3
293 Debye-Hueckel formula 3
ELECTRODE EQUILIBRIA
294 electromotive force (definition) 1
295 first kind electrodes 1
296 standard electrode potential 1
297 Nernst equation 2
298 second kind electrodes 2
299 relation between [Delta]G and electromotive force 3
KINETICS OF HOMEGENOUS REACTION
300 factors influencing reaction rate 1
301 rate equation 1
302 rate constant 1
303 order of reaction 2
304 1st order reactions: time dependence of concentration 2
305 -half life 2
306 - relation between half-life and rate const 2
307 rate-determining step 2
308 molecularity 2
309 Arrhenius equation, activation energy (definition) 2
310 calculation of rate constant for first order reactions 2
311 calculation of rate constant for second, third order reactions 3
312 calculation of activation energy from experimental data 3
313 basic concepts of collision theory 3
314 basic concepts of transition state theory 3
315 opposing, parallel and consecutive reactions 3
THERMODYNAMICS
316 system and its surroundings 2
317 energy, heat and work 2
318 relation between enthalpy and energy 2
319 heat capacity - definition 2
320 difference between Cp and Cv 3
321 Hess law 2
322 Born-Haber cycle for ionic compounds 3
323 lattice energies - approximate calculations
(e.g.Kapustinski equation)
3
324 use of standard formation enthalpies 2
325 heats of solution and solvation 2
326 bond energies - definition and uses 2
SECOND LAW
327 Entropy - definition (q/T) 2
328 entropy and disorder 2
329 relation S=k ln W 3
330 relation G = H - T S 2
331 [[Delta]]G and directionality of changes 2
PHASE SYSTEMS
332 ideal gas law 1
333 van der Waals gas law 3
334 definition of partial pressure 1
335 Temp.dependence of the vapour pressure of liquid 2
336 Clausius-Clapeyron equation 3
337 reading phase diagram: triple point 3
338 -critical temperature 3
339 liquid-vapour system (diagram) 3
340 -ideal and nonideal systems 3
341 -use in fractional distillation 3
342 Henry's law 2
343 Raoult's law 2
344 deviations from Raoult law 3
345 Boiling point elevation law 2
346 freezing-point depression, determination of molar mass 2
347 osmotic pressure 2
348 partition coefficient 3
349 solvent extraction 2
350 basic principles of chromatography 2
OTHER PROBLEMS Group
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
351 using pipette 1
352 using burette 1
353 choice of indicators for acidimetry 1
354 titration curve: pH (strong and weak acid) 2
355 -EMF (redox titration) 2
356 calculation of pH of simple buffer solution 2
357 identification of: Ag+, Ba2+, Cl-, SO42-ions 1
358 - of Al3+, NO2-, NO3-, Bi3+ ions 2
359 - of VO3-, CIO3-, Ti4+ ions 3
360 - using flame test for K, Ca, Sr 1
361 Lambert-Beer-Law 2
COMPLEXES
362 writing down complexation reactions 1
363 complex formation constants (definition) 2
364 Eg and T2g terms: high and low spin octahedral complexes 3
365 calculation of solubility of AgCl in NH3 (from Ks and ß's) 3
366 cis and trans forms 3
THEORETICAL CHEMISTRY
367 n, l, m quantum numbers 2
368 energy levels of hydrogen atom (formula) 2
369 shape of p-orbitals 2
370 d orbital stereoconfiguration 3
371 molecular orbital diagram: H2 molecule 3
372 -N2 or O2 molecule 3
373 bond orders in O2 or O2+ or O2- 3
374 Hueckel theory for aromatic compounds 3
375 Lewis acids and bases 2
376 hard and soft Lewis acids 3
377 unpaired electrons and paramagnetism 2
378 square of the wave function and probability 3
379 understanding the simplest Schroedinger equation 3


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