GATE 2014 Syllabus For Chemistry (CY)
General Aptitude
1. Verbal Ability: English grammar, sentence completion, verbal analogies, word
groups, instructions, critical reasoning and verbal deduction.
2. Numerical Ability: Numerical computation, numerical estimation, numerical reasoning and data interpretation.
1. Verbal Ability: English grammar, sentence completion, verbal analogies, word
groups, instructions, critical reasoning and verbal deduction.
2. Numerical Ability: Numerical computation, numerical estimation, numerical reasoning and data interpretation.
Physical Chemistry
Structure: Quantum theory: principles and techniques; applications to a particle in a
box, harmonic oscillator, rigid rotor and hydrogen atom; valence bond and molecular
orbital theories, Hückel approximation; approximate techniques: variation and
perturbation; symmetry, point groups; rotational, vibrational, electronic, NMR, and ESR
spectroscopy
Equilibrium: Kinetic theory of gases; First law of thermodynamics, heat, energy, and
work; second law of thermodynamics and entropy; third law and absolute entropy; free
energy; partial molar quantities; ideal and non-ideal solutions; phase transformation:
phase rule and phase diagrams – one, two, and three component systems; activity,
activity coefficient, fugacity, and fugacity coefficient; chemical equilibrium, response of
chemical equilibrium to temperature and pressure; colligative properties; Debye-Hückel
theory; thermodynamics of electrochemical cells; standard electrode potentials:
applications – corrosion and energy conversion; molecular partition function
(translational, rotational, vibrational, and electronic).
Kinetics: Rates of chemical reactions, temperature dependence of chemical reactions;
elementary, consecutive, and parallel reactions; steady state approximation; theories of
reaction rates – collision and transition state theory, relaxation kinetics, kinetics of
photochemical reactions and free radical polymerization, homogeneous catalysis,
adsorption isotherms and heterogeneous catalysis.
Inorganic Chemistry
Main group elements: General characteristics, allotropes, structure and reactions of
simple and industrially important compounds: boranes, carboranes, silicones, silicates,
boron nitride, borazines and phosphazenes. Hydrides, oxides and oxoacids of pnictogens
(N, P), chalcogens (S, Se &Te) and halogens, xenon compounds, pseudo halogens and
interhalogen compounds. Shapes of molecules and hard- soft acid base concept.
Structure and Bonding (VBT) of B, Al, Si, N, P, S, Cl compounds. Allotropes of carbon:
graphite, diamond, C60. Synthesis and reactivity of inorganic polymers of Si and P.
Transition Elements: General characteristics of d and f block elements; coordination
chemistry: structure and isomerism, stability, theories of metal- ligand bonding (CFT
and LFT), mechanisms of substitution and electron transfer reactions of coordination
complexes. Electronic spectra and magnetic properties of transition metal complexes,
lanthanides and actinides. Metal carbonyls, metal- metal bonds and metal atom clusters,
metallocenes; transition metal complexes with bonds to hydrogen, alkyls, alkenes and
arenes; metal carbenes; use of organometallic compounds as catalysts in organic
synthesis. Bioinorganic chemistry of Na, K. Mg, Ca, Fe, Co, Zn, Cu andMo.
Solids: Crystal systems and lattices, miller planes, crystal packing, crystal defects;
Bragg’s Law, ionic crystals, band theory, metals and semiconductors, Different
structures of AX, AX2, ABX3 compounds, spinels.
Instrumental methods of analysis: Atomic absorption and emission spectroscopy
including ICP-AES, UV- visible spectrophotometry, NMR, mass, Mossbauer spectroscopy
(Fe and Sn), ESR spectroscopy, chromatography including GC and HPLC and electroanalytical methods (Coulometry, cyclic voltammetry, polarography – amperometry, and
ion selective electrodes).
Organic Chemistry
Stereochemistry: Chirality of organic molecules with or without chiral centres.
Specification of configuration in compounds having one or more stereogenic centres.
Enantiotopic and diastereotopic atoms, groups and faces. Stereoselective and
stereospecific synthesis. Conformational analysis of acyclic and cyclic compounds.
Geometrical isomerism. Configurational and conformational effects on reactivity and
selectivity/specificity.
Reaction mechanism: Methods of determining reaction mechanisms. Nucleophilic and
electrophilic substitutions and additions to multiple bonds. Elimination reactions.
Reactive intermediates- carbocations, carbanions, carbenes, nitrenes, arynes, free
radicals. Molecular rearrangements involving electron deficient atoms.
Organic synthesis: Synthesis, reactions, mechanisms and selectivity involving the
following- alkenes, alkynes, arenes, alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic
acids and their derivatives, halides, nitro compounds and amines. Use of compounds of
Mg, Li, Cu, B and Si in organic synthesis. Concepts in multistep synthesis- retrosynthetic
analysis, disconnections, synthons, synthetic equivalents, reactivity umpolung,
selectivity, protection and deprotection of functional groups.
Pericyclic reactions: Electrocyclic, cycloaddition and sigmatropic reactions. Orbital
correlation, FMO and PMO treatments.
Photochemistry: Basic principles. Photochemistry of alkenes, carbonyl compounds, and
arenes. Photooxidation and photoreduction.Di-π- methane rearrangement, Barton
reaction.
Heterocyclic compounds: Structure, preparation, properties and reactions of furan,
pyrrole, thiophene, pyridine, indole and their derivatives.
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: Principles and applications of UV-visible, IR, NMR and Mass
spectrometry in the determination of structures of organic molecules.
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