What Are the “Foundations of Inorganic Chemistry”? Two Answers

The 2008 American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training (CPT) guidelines for bachelor’s degree programs specify that all certified majors take the equivalent of a one-semester “foundations of inorganic chemistry” course; an in-depth inorganic chemistry course is optional. The CPT provides a supplement to the guidelines listing inorganic topics that should be covered, but the list is too long to cover in one semester. We suggest that the list can be subdivided into two approximately equal subsets. The “aqueous and bioinorganic chemistry” subset meets the needs of most chemistry and related majors and does not require coverage of symmetry and molecular orbital theory. The “inorganic chemistry research” subset meets the needs of another set of chemistry majors and includes and builds on symmetry and molecular orbital theory. Because the CPT allows a department to have two alternate versions of the “foundations of inorganic chemistry” course, a department can provide most students with a one-semester inorganic chemistry course that contains the topics that are most relevant to them.