Session: Undergraduate Research Posters: Inorganic Chemistry:

Analyzing magnetic susceptibility and determining the number of unpaired electrons in a coordination complex is a common topic in undergraduate Inorganic Chemistry courses. Previously, the Evans method with an Evans balance was used for this analysis. However, we found that use of the Evans balance introduced large amounts of uncertainty and was unreliable. Our goal was to examine another potentially more efficient and precise procedure for determining the number of unpaired electrons using the Evans method using NMR. In order to determine if the Evans method was more precise with the NMR, we analyzed different cobalt complexes and other metal complexes containing acetylacetonate ligands. We found that the NMR was far more reliable than the Evans balance in producing the correct number of unpaired electrons. Additionally, we were able to investigate other concepts in Inorganic Chemistry, including crystal field theory and electron spin pairing energies.

Eric Eitrheim

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