While a mechanistic approach ('arrowpushing') is universally adopted in introductory organic chemistry, a similar approach is not used for introductory inorganic chemistry. A perusal of introductory inorganic texts currently available on the market revealed a complete lack of mechanistic rationale, as far as descriptive main-group chemistry is concerned. In a recent article (Berg, S.; Ghosh, A. J. Chem. Educ. 2011  , 88, 1663-1666), we argued that there was little justification for this state of affairs to continue. But just how far can an arrowpushing approach be pushed to teach main-group reaction chemistry? The answer, we believe, is 'very far indeed'. We will illustrate our approach by discussing some of the more stoichiometrically complex reactions that one encounters in standard undergraduate inorganic texts.

Arrowpushing in inorganic chemistry: Charting the limits of the approach

245th National Meeting (2013)

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