Data-handling, processing, and analysis skills are an integral part of a chemist's skill set and, more generally, are highly sought by employers. We report a self-directed workshop to develop and advance these key skills using the popular spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel. Making use of its accessible user interface, various contextualized problems relevant to chemistry are introduced, linking theory to practical applications and providing insight and understanding of processes that operate behind-the-scenes in many specialized data processing packages. The workshop has been delivered as a remote exercise for both our first and second year undergraduate cohorts (216 students completed). Students reported a positive impact from the workshop, including the development of a wide range of important skills, the utility for future practical work, and the effectiveness of communication remotely to address their issues.

A practical focusing on the synthesis, isolation, and hydrolysis of ammonia borane (AB), H3N·BH3, was developed for first-year undergraduate students. By requiring students to propose their own experimental setup to measure the amount of gas produced upon hydrolysis, experimental design skills were introduced and developed during the practical. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote and face-to-face versions of the practical were created to enable inclusivity in which experimental design skills were a key feature. Students identified and reported an appreciable increase in their experimental design skills. The multifaceted nature of the practical allows for flexibility in its implementation, dependent on students’ prior knowledge, local logistical considerations, and the learning objectives of an institution.

Teaching practical laboratory skills is a key component of preparing undergraduate students for future careers in chemistry and elsewhere. In this paper, we present our new strategy to teach practical skills to undergraduate chemistry students. We report a Skills Inventory, a list of the suggested practical skills a graduate chemist should possess; this list was compiled by chemists across the UK. In our new practical course we begin by decoupling the practical skill from the theoretical background, compelling students to first master the basic processes needed to carry out a specific technique. In what we have termed a ‘spiral curriculum’ approach, skills are revisited on multiple occasions, with increasing complexity and greater emphasis on underlying theory. The new course makes links across traditional subdisciplines of chemistry to avoid compartmentalisation of ideas.

The rare octahedral EC6 coordination skeleton type is unknown for complexes with coordination centers consisting of Group 14 elements. Here, the first examples of such EC6 species, the hexacoordinate homoleptic cyanido complexes E(CN)6 2− , E = Si, Ge, Sn, have been synthesized from element halides SiCl4, GeCl4 and SnF4 and isolated as salts with PPN counter ions (PPN + = (Ph3P)2N + ) on a scale 0.2-1 g. Characterization by spectroscopic techniques and by structure determination through single crystal crystallographic methods show that these pseudohalogen complexes have effective octahedral symmetry in solution and in the solid state.Infrared spectra obtained in solution reveal that the T1u symmetric IR-active vibrations in all three complexes have unusually small oscillator strengths. The observed reluctance of Si(CN)6 2− , Ge(CN)6 2− and Sn(CN)6 2− to form from chloro-precursors was rationalized in terms of Gibbs free energies, which were found by ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)-F12b/aug-cc-pVTZ(-PP)-F12 level of theory to be small or even positive. The work demonstrates that E(CN)6 2− complexes of silicon, germanium and tin are in fact stable at r.t. and exist as well-defined units in the presence of non-coordinating counter-ions. The results add to our understanding of the chemistry of pseudohalogens and structure and bonding.

The value of postgraduates teaching in undergraduate chemistry laboratories has been a subject of interest at universities in the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. The role of the teaching assistant (TA) is already well-established in many laboratories in the USA, and such roles have been increasing in popularity in the UK. Postgraduate (PG) demonstrators are however commonplace in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Despite this, reports of formalized postgraduate programs involving a significant teaching component in the UK are rare. Here, we report on the first example of a Chemistry UK Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) program that started at The University of Sheffield in 2010. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first program reported of its type in the UK. For over 10 years, this program has resulted in a cohort of 24 GTAs who work alongside PG demonstrators in the laboratory and graduate with not only a chemistry Ph.D. but also enhanced teaching experience and professional development. Students in the GTA program have taken on a number of valuable roles, which are described herein. Positive outcomes include development of employability skills, contribution to the consistency of teaching, and knowledge transfer through involvement in training other PG demonstrators. The standard and consistency of the efforts of the GTA cohort have been demonstrated by a significant number receiving recognition for their teaching by gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) accreditation, which is often associated with academic staff who are involved in teaching.