A number of important principles, primarily trans effect in square planar complexes, can be illustrated when the microscale synthesis of cis- and trans-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) is adopted in an undergraduate lab.  However, the synthesized platinum complexes are hard to characterize spectroscopically because most institutions do not have access to an instrument with Far-IR capabilities and are therefore unable to see the Pt-Cl and Pt-N vibrations of the cis- and trans- isomers.   The product geometry is usually determined experimentally using a colorimetric thiourea test.This paper describes a computational exercise that can augment published procedures.  In this exercise, the vibrational frequencies of the products are computed and compared to the experimentally determined spectra.  Students can also use the animations of molecular vibrations to help assign the peaks in the infrared spectra.  By doing so, the entire experiment will also reinforce conceptual understanding of molecular vibrations.

Computations enhance undergraduate trans effect lab: Characterizing cis- and trans- [Pt(NH3)2Cl2]

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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