Syllabus - Chemistry, GATE 2017 PDF Download

Syllabus for General Aptitude (GA)

(COMMON TO ALL PAPERS)

Verbal Ability: English grammar, sentence completion, verbal analogies, word groups,
instructions, critical reasoning and verbal deduction.

Numerical Ability: Numerical computation, numerical estimation, numerical reasoning and data
interpretation.

Section 1: Physical Chemistry

Structure: Postulates of quantum mechanics. Time dependent and time independent
Schrödinger equations. Born interpretation. Particle in a box. Harmonic oscillator. Rigid
rotor. Hydrogen atom: atomic orbitals. Multi-electron atoms: orbital approximation.
Variation and first order perturbation techniques. Chemical bonding: Valence bond
theory and LCAO-MO theory. Hybrid orbitals. Applications of LCAO-MOT to H₂⁺, H₂ and
other homonuclear diatomic molecules, heteronuclear diatomic molecules like HF, CO,
NO, and to simple delocalized π– electron systems. Hückel approximation and its
application to annular π – electron systems. Symmetry elements and operations. Point
groups and character tables. Origin of selection rules for rotational, vibrational, electronic
and Raman spectroscopy of diatomic and polyatomic molecules. Einstein coefficients.
Relationship of transition moment integral with molar extinction coefficient and oscillator
strength. Basic principles of nuclear magnetic resonance: nuclear g factor, chemical shift,
nuclear coupling.

Equilibrium: Laws of thermodynamics. Standard states. Thermochemistry. Thermodynamic
functions and their relationships: Gibbs-Helmholtz and Maxwell relations, van’t Hoff
equation. Criteria of spontaneity and equilibrium. Absolute entropy. Partial molar
quantities. Thermodynamics of mixing. Chemical potential. Fugacity, activity and activity
coefficients. Chemical equilibria. Dependence of equilibrium constant on temperature
and pressure. Non-ideal solutions. Ionic mobility and conductivity. Debye-Hückel limiting
law. Debye-Hückel-Onsager equation. Standard electrode potentials and
electrochemical cells. Potentiometric and conductometric titrations. Phase rule. Clausius-
Clapeyron equation. Phase diagram of one component systems: CO₂, H₂O, S; two
component systems: liquid-vapour, liquid-liquid and solid-liquid systems. Fractional
distillation. Azeotropes and eutectics. Statistical thermodynamics: microcanonical and
canonical ensembles, Boltzmann distribution, partition functions and thermodynamic
properties.

Kinetics: Transition state theory: Eyring equation, thermodynamic aspects. Potential
energy surfaces and classical trajectories. Elementary, parallel, opposing and consecutive
reactions. Steady state approximation. Mechanisms of complex reactions. Unimolecular
reactions. Kinetics of polymerization and enzyme catalysis. Fast reaction kinetics:
relaxation and flow methods. Kinetics of photochemical and photophysical processes.

Surfaces and Interfaces: Physisorption and chemisorption. Langmuir, Freundlich and BET
isotherms. Surface catalysis: Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. Surface tension, viscosity.
Self-assembly. Physical chemistry of colloids, micelles and macromolecules.

Section 2: Inorganic Chemistry

Main Group Elements: Hydrides, halides, oxides, oxoacids, nitrides, sulfides – shapes and
reactivity. Structure and bonding of boranes, carboranes, silicones, silicates, boron nitride,
borazines and phosphazenes. Allotropes of carbon. Chemistry of noble gases,
pseudohalogens, and interhalogen compounds. Acid-base concepts.

Transition Elements: Coordination chemistry – structure and isomerism, theories of bonding
(VBT, CFT, and MOT). Energy level diagrams in various crystal fields, CFSE, applications of
CFT, Jahn-Teller distortion. Electronic spectra of transition metal complexes: spectroscopic
term symbols, selection rules, Orgel diagrams, charge-transfer spectra. Magnetic
properties of transition metal complexes. Reaction mechanisms: kinetic and
thermodynamic stability, substitution and redox reactions.
 

Lanthanides and Actinides: Recovery. Periodic properties, spectra and magnetic
properties.

Organometallics: 18-Electron rule; metal-alkyl, metal-carbonyl, metal-olefin and metalcarbene
complexes and metallocenes. Fluxionality in organometallic complexes. Types of
organometallic reactions. Homogeneous catalysis - Hydrogenation, hydroformylation,
acetic acid synthesis, metathesis and olefin oxidation. Heterogeneous catalysis - Fischer-
Tropsch reaction, Ziegler-Natta polymerization.

Radioactivity: Decay processes, half-life of radioactive elements, fission and fusion
processes.

Bioinorganic Chemistry: Ion (Na+ and K+) transport, oxygen binding, transport and
utilization, electron transfer reactions, nitrogen fixation, metalloenzymes containing
magnesium, molybdenum, iron, cobalt, copper and zinc.

Solids: Crystal systems and lattices, Miller planes, crystal packing, crystal defects, Bragg’s
law, ionic crystals, structures of AX, AX2, ABX3 type compounds, spinels, band theory,
metals and semiconductors.

Instrumental Methods of Analysis: UV-visible spectrophotometry, NMR and ESR
spectroscopy, mass spectrometry. Chromatography including GC and HPLC.
Electroanalytical methods- polarography, cyclic voltammetry, ion-selective electrodes.
Thermoanalytical methods.

Section 3: Organic Chemistry

Stereochemistry: Chirality of organic molecules with or without chiral centres and
determination of their absolute configurations. Relative stereochemistry in compounds
having more than one stereogenic centre. Homotopic, enantiotopic and diastereotopic
atoms, groups and faces. Stereoselective and stereospecific synthesis. Conformational
analysis of acyclic and cyclic compounds. Geometrical isomerism. Configurational and
conformational effects, and neighbouring group participation on reactivity and
selectivity/specificity.
 

Reaction Mechanisms: Basic mechanistic concepts – kinetic versus thermodynamic
control, Hammond’s postulate and Curtin-Hammett principle. Methods of determining
reaction mechanisms through identification of products, intermediates and isotopic
labeling. Nucleophilic and electrophilic substitution reactions (both aromatic and
aliphatic). Addition reactions to carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom (N,O) multiple
bonds. Elimination reactions. Reactive intermediates – carbocations, carbanions,
carbenes, nitrenes, arynes and free radicals. Molecular rearrangements involving electron
deficient atoms.

Organic Synthesis: Synthesis, reactions, mechanisms and selectivity involving the following
classes of compounds – alkenes, alkynes, arenes, alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones,
carboxylic acids, esters, nitriles, halides, nitro compounds, amines and amides. Uses of Mg,
Li, Cu, B, Zn and Si based reagents in organic synthesis. Carbon-carbon bond formation
through coupling reactions - Heck, Suzuki, Stille and Sonogoshira. Concepts of multistep
synthesis - retrosynthetic analysis, strategic disconnections, synthons and synthetic
equivalents. Umpolung reactivity – formyl and acyl anion equivalents. Selectivity in
organic synthesis – chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity. Protection and deprotection of
functional groups. Concepts of asymmetric synthesis – resolution (including enzymatic),
desymmetrization and use of chiral auxilliaries. Carbon-carbon bond forming reactions
through enolates (including boron enolates), enamines and silyl enol ethers. Michael
addition reaction. Stereoselective addition to C=O groups (Cram and Felkin-Anh models).

Pericyclic Reactions and Photochemistry: Electrocyclic, cycloaddition and sigmatropic
reactions. Orbital correlations - FMO and PMO treatments. Photochemistry of alkenes,
arenes and carbonyl compounds. Photooxidation and photoreduction. Di-π-methane
rearrangement, Barton reaction.

Heterocyclic Compounds: Structure, preparation, properties and reactions of furan,
pyrrole, thiophene, pyridine, indole, quinoline and isoquinoline.

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: Applications of UV-visible, IR, NMR and Mass spectrometry in the structural
determination of organic molecules.