GATE 2003 Syllabus
- Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Structure:
Quantum theory - principles and techniques; applications to particle in a box,
harmonic oscillator, rigid rotor and hydrogen atom; valence bond and molecular
orbital theories and Huckel approximation, Approximate Techniques: variation and
perturbation; symmetry, point groups; rotational, vibrational, electronic, NMR
and ESR spectroscopy.
Equilibrium:
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 diagram - 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;
thermodynamics of electrochemical cells; standard electrode potentials;
applications - corrosion and energy conversion; molecular partition function
(translational, rotational, vibrational and electronic). Kinetic theory of
gases.
Kinetics:
Rates of chemical reactions, theories of reaction rates, collision and
transition state theory; temperature dependence of chemical reactions;
elementary reactions, consecutive elementary reactions; steady state
approximation, kinetics of photochemical reactions and free radical
polymerization, homogenous and heterogeneous catalysis.
Solids:
Crystal systems and lattices, Miller planes, crystal packing, crystal defects;
Bragg's Law; ionic crystals, band theory, metals and semiconductors.
Inorganic Chemistry
Non-Transition elements:
General characteristics, structure and reactions of simple and industrially
important compounds, boranes, carboranes, silicates, silicones, diamond and
graphite; hydrides, oxides and oxoacids of N, P, S and halogens; boron nitride,
borazines and phosphazenes; xenon compounds.
Shapes of molecules, Hard-Soft acid base concept, Spinels.
Transition Elements:
General characterstics of d and f block elements; Coordination Chemistry:
structure and isomerism, stability, theories of metal-ligand bonding (CFT and
LFT), electronic spectra and magnetic properties of transition metal complexes
and lanthanides; 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; mechanisms of substitution and electron transfer
reactions of coordination complexes; role of metals with special reference to
Na, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Co, Zn, and Mo in biological systems.
Instrumental methods of analysis:
atomic absorption, uv-visible spectrometry, chromatographic and
electro-analytical methods.
Organic Chemistry
Reactions, synthesis and mechanism involving the following:
Alkenes, alkynes, arenes, alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic
acids and their derivatives; halides, nitro compounds and amines; stereochemical
and conformational effects on reactivity and specificity. Oxidation with
diborane and peracids. Michael reaction, Robinson annulation, Reactivity
umpolung, acyl anion equivalents.
Photochemistry:
Basic principles, photochemistry of olefins, carbonyl compounds, arenes, photo
oxidation and reduction.
Pericyclic reactions:
Cycloadditions, electrocyclic reactions, Sigmatropic reactions; Woodward-Hoffman
rules. Molecular rearrangements involving electron deficient atoms.
Heterocycles:
Structural properties and reactions of furan, pyrrole, thiophene, pyridine,
indole.
Biomolecules:
Structure, properties and reactions of mono and di-saccharides, physico-chemical
properties of amino acids, structural features of proteins and nucleic acids.
Spectroscopy:
Principles and applications of IR, UV-visible, NMR and mass spectrometry in the
determination of structures of organic compounds.