Laws of photochemistry: Grotthus-Draper law, Stark-Einstein law of photochemical equivalence. Beer-Lambert law (for solids and liquids) and limitations. Quantum yield and its measurement. Actinometry. Photostationary state. Photosensitised reactions. Jablonski diagrams: internal conversion, intersystem crossing, fluorescence and phosphorescence. Franck-Condon principle. Primary and secondary processes in photochemical reactions.

Spectroscopy and its importance in chemistry. Wave-particle duality. Link between spectroscopy and quantum chemistry. Electromagnetic radiation and its interaction with matter. Types of spectroscopy. Absorption cross section and Einstein's coefficients. Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Separation of molecular energies into translational, rotational, vibrational and electronic degrees of freedom. Factors affecting intensities and width of spectral lines.

Microwave (pure rotational) spectra of diatomic molecules. Selection rules and transition dipole moment. Structural information from rotational spectroscopy.

IR Spectroscopy: selection rules, IR spectra of diatomic molecules and organic compounds. Structural information from vibrational spectra. Vibrations of polyatomic molecules. Group frequencies. Effect of hydrogen bonding and substitution on vibrational frequencies.

Electronic Spectroscopy: electronic excited states and selection rules. Free electron model and its application to electronic spectra of polyenes. Vibronic and spin-orbit coupling. Colour and constitution, chromophores, auxochromes, bathochromic and hypsochromic shifts. Woodward-Fieser rules.

Qualitative treatment of Raman effect. Elements of rotational Raman spectra. Vibrational Raman spectra, Stokes and anti-Stokes lines. Rule of mutual exclusion.

Minimum of seven experiments to be performed, including:

• Calculation of rotational constant for simple diatomic systems via quantum chemistry software.
• Calculation of optimum bond length from the rotational constant via the rigid rotor approximation.
• Single point calculations to generate a potential energy surface (PES) and frequency calculation.
• Simulating the IR spectra of simple nonlinear molecules (e.g. water, ammonia, BF₃) using quantum chemistry software.
• Study of the 200–500 nm absorbance spectra of KMnO₄ and K₂Cr₂O₇.
• Study the pH-dependence of the UV-Vis spectrum of K₂Cr₂O₇.
• Record the 200–350 nm UV spectra of organic compounds and interpret.
• Complete spectral analysis of the vibration-rotation spectrum of HCl(g).
• Verify Lambert–Beer’s law and determine concentration of CuSO₄/KMnO₄/K₂Cr₂O₇.
• Determine the concentrations of KMnO₄ and K₂Cr₂O₇ in a mixture.
• Study the kinetics of iodination of propanone in acidic medium.
• Determine the amount of iron present in a sample using 1,10-phenanthroline.

Acid-base concepts, measure of acid and base strength, proton affinity, acidity and basicity of binary hydrogen compounds, inductive effect and strength of oxyacids, acidity of aqua ions, steric effect, proton sponge, solvation and acid-base strength, non-aqueous solvents and acid-base strength, levelling effect, superacids and superbases. Hard and soft acids and bases (HSAB), application of HSAB principle and symbiosis.

Reduction potentials: redox half-reactions, standard potentials and spontaneity, trends in standard potentials, the electrochemical series, Nernst equation (influence of pH and concentration on electrode potential). Principles of redox titration and choice of redox indicators.

Valence bond theory (VBT), inner and outer orbital complexes, electroneutrality principle and back bonding, effects of hybridisation in metal-ligand bond strength and stability of complexes, magnetic properties of complexes, drawbacks of VBT.

Concepts of aromatic, anti-aromatic and non-aromatic compounds (including examples of cyclic carbocations, carbanions and heterocyclic compounds); Hückel’s rule.

Methods of preparation, properties and relative reactivity of alkyl and aryl halides; selectivity in electrophilic and nucleophilic substitution reactions (S_NAr), preparation and reactions of diazonium salts; benzyne mechanism.

Preparation, properties and relative reactivity of 1°, 2°, and 3°-alcohols, ethers, epoxides (preparation and reactions with alcohols, ammonia derivatives and LiAlH₄). Thiols and sulfides; phenols (preparation, properties and reactivity; Reimer-Tiemann and Kolbe’s-Schmidt reactions).

Structure, reactivity and preparation; oxidations and reductions (Jones reagent, PCC and PDC, Oppenauer, Clemmensen, Wolff-Kishner, NaBH₄, LiAlH₄, MPV), Baeyer-Villiger oxidation.

Vapour pressure of solution. Ideal solutions, ideally diluted solutions and colligative properties. Raoult’s law and Henry’s Law. Thermodynamic derivation of colligative properties of solution (using chemical potentials) and their inter-relationships. Abnormal colligative properties.

Fugacity, activity coefficients and concept of chemical potential; Gibbs-Duhem equation and Duhem-Margules equation: their use and application; enthalpy, free energy and entropy of mixing; excess thermodynamic functions.