Chemistry for Sustainable Energy MChem

The module covers a wide variety of topics in the area of innovative chemistry for energy and materials. This will act as an introduction to these areas to enable the student to pursue their interests to a deeper level independently, and to provide a foundation level knowledge in materials and electrochemistry, to be expanded in subsequent core and optional chemistry modules.

This module gives an introduction to the chemistry of the main group elements, using the periodic table as the underpinning framework for understanding this chemistry, and develops students’ analytical chemistry skills including volumetric and spectrophotometric techniques applied to materials that are familiar in everyday life.

An Introduction to Organic Chemistry consisting of lectures, workshops and laboratory classes assessed continuously and by four class tests

This module builds on the thermodynamics and kinetics that students have studied prior to University. Learning is supported by both problem-solving workshops and undertaking experiments in the laboratory

This module will provide an introduction to a variety of spectroscopic techniques. Students will explore the theory underpinning various spectroscopic methods, how they are put into practice when acquiring spectra, and the interpretation of spectra to identify unknown substances.

The aim of this module is: (i) to equip students with the basic quantitative transferable skills required for the first year of a Chemistry degree programme. (ii) to broaden a student’s perspective of chemistry whilst developing their general transferable skills with a focus on communication and employability. The overarching learning outcome is for students to have the key skills that will equip them to perform well in the rest of their chemistry degree programme.
Quantitative Key Skills will be taught using a lecture/workshop format involving problem solving classes, using computers where necessary. General Key Skills will involve a series of lecture-based presentations given by staff from the Department of Chemistry and the Careers Service together with a database workshop and small group tutorials. Extensive use of on-line platforms will be made.

This module introduces the basic concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, particularly in relation to their technological underpinnings. The module will address the role of chemistry in relation to broad societal, environmental and developmental questions. The module also gives a fundamental understanding of the principles and technologies in Green Chemistry and the generation of Renewable Energy and Chemicals.

The module introduces the descriptive coordination and organometallic chemistry and the concepts underpinning our understanding of this chemistry.

Organic functional materials are of increasing global importance with applications in energy, medicine and electronics. This module will highlight how functional organic materials such as porous polymers/molecules, responsive gels and organic conductors can be designed for specific applications. The module will also explain how advanced characterisation methods (including scattering techniques, gas sorption and size exclusion chromatography) are used in the development of modern materials. Additionally, this module will provide an introduction to polymers; outlining aspects of polymer synthesis, properties and characterisation. CHEM241 will be useful to chemists who wish to develop a deeper understanding of how organic compounds can be designed to provide functional materials

This module shows how an understanding of the symmetry properties of molecules can be applied to the understanding of spectroscopic selection rules and bonding.

This is a practical module in which students learn the practice of taking physical measurements, the critical analysis and evaluation of experimental data, the application of measurements to the study of chemical phenomena and the dissemination of results.

This module is the core Organic Chemistry module for Year 2 Chemistry students. It introduces important carbon-carbon bond forming reactions within a mechanistic and synthetic framework, together with exposure to a selection of stereochemical issues.

This module expands on the fundamentals of Physical Chemistry that were introduced in Year 1. The principles and applications of thermodynamics, kinetics and spectroscopy are covered in detail with more emphasis on derivation of key results than in Year 1. Quantum mechanics is developed from the basic principles and mathematical description of quantum phenomena. It is applied to describe bonding in small molecules and in solids, and is linked to spectroscopy via detailed description of molecular energy levels and the possible transitions between these permitted by quantum mechanics.

The module presents a unified approach to the synthesis and characterisation of organic and inorganic compounds, introducing a range of synthetic techniques, experiments and analytical methods.

This module aims to (i) further develop the quantitative skills of a student, (ii) introduce students to the Chemistry Key Skill of Molecular Modelling, and (iii) maintain student development of general transferable and employability skills. The overarching learning outcome is that students will gain the necessary key skills to perform well in their chemistry degree programmes. By the end of the module students will have improved their ability to perform and apply mathematical techniques to problems in kinetics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and molecular symmetry. They will have developed abilities to employ force-field and Quantum Chemistry techniques in Molecular Modelling using the Spartan package. They will also have further developed their range of transferable and employability skills, including written and oral communication and team working.

​This module will focus on energy conversion processes found in nature. Energy as a commodity is described as "reducing power" or as "high energy electrons" and the concept of nutrient or fuel is introduced. Biological energy conversion processes are discussed from an evolutionary perspective, and it is described how they have contributed to the current composition of the planet’s atmosphere and crust. Sustainability issues will become apparent when comparing the time scales of biogenic fuel accumulation and human consumption of fuel. 

This module provides the scientific and technical foundation to understand the utilisation of biomass, the emerging renewable chemicals industry, biorefinaries and the implications that these technologies will have.

This module will give students a broad, interdisciplinary, background in catalysis across the traditional divides within chemistry.

An extension of second year organic chemistry, covering pericyclic reactions, rearrangements and fragmentations, radical reactions, uses of phosphorous, sulphur and selenium in synthetic chemistry, as well as some core physical-organic concepts.

This module builds on the fundamental inorganic chemistry that students have studied previously to give an appreciation of the science underpinning the development of modern materials. It will discuss the fundamentals of crystalline and disordered solids, and magnetism; methods for synthesising materials; characterisation techniques; applications of inorganic materials; and the link between the chemistry, structure and function of materials.

In this module, students will carry out a bespoke collection of advanced experiments in three of the areas of Organic, Inorganic, Physical or Computational Chemistry

This module is taken by year 3 MChem students in the 2nd semester. Students will be assigned mini research projects based on their project preference and potential projects offered by academic staff. Students carry out these projects in research labs for 10 weeks.

This module aims to help Chemistry students develop skills needed for further educational opportunities (i.e. MSc/PhD) or employment in a wide range of chemical and non-chemical based sectors. During the ‘Employability skills’ section, students will look at a variety of employability related skills, job application exercises, interview preparation techniques and presentation experience. This will be in the form of asynchronous lectures, online and in-person workshops and in-person tutorials and will require reflective thinking and group work – this will be facilitated by the module staff and other colleagues from the institution and wider industry. During the ‘database’ section, students will further their knowledge of the scientific literature developed during years 1/2 by engaging with more advanced aspects of various databases and writing a scientific electronic report of an experiment the students have completed in the laboratory.

The aim of this module is to extend a student’s knowledge of Physical Chemistry, in particular to demonstrate the relationship between microscopic and macroscopic models for physical chemical phenomena, the quantum mechanical description of chemical bonding and the physical chemistry of electrochemical cells, surfactants and colloids.

The aim of this module is to develop the skills necessary to undertake independent chemical research. Students carry out a research project of their choice in an area that is presently active in the department and that is aligned with our research clusters in Energy and Catalysis, Materials Chemistry, Medicinal and Bio-Nano Chemistry, Functional Interfaces, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry. This is delivered by becoming a member of a research group led by academic staff of the Department of Chemistry and by carrying out experimental or theoretical/computational work as a member of that research group. In addition, the student’s skills in molecular modelling techniques in chemistry and chemical database skills are further developed and the student’s employability awareness and skills will be enhanced.

The aim of this module is to develop the students’ knowledge of interfacial electrochemistry. This includes both the understanding of fundamental aspects of electrochemistry, as well as techniques for characterising surfaces under electrochemical conditions. Applications of electrochemistry will also be discussed.

This is an advanced module that introduces the student to modern spectroscopic techniques and their applications in materials characterisation. Emphasis is given to those techniques, which are currently most important to chemical research both in industry and academia. At the end of the module, students should be able to understand the basic physical principles of these techniques and be able to decide which combination of techniques is best employed to tackle a particular problem of materials characterisation.

The aim of this module is to provide students with a knowledge and understanding of the application of enzymes in organic synthesis with a focus on selectivity and sustainability. Selected industrial examples will illustrate where biocatalysis can replace or be combined with conventional chemical reactions in drug synthesis. The module will include an introduction to molecular biology, exciting new developments in the field such as directed evolution for the creation of designer enzymes, creation of artificial enzymes by combining chemo-and biocatalysis and development of synthetic pathways using enzymes. Industrial biotechnology is an important area for a sustainable future and this module will provide a solid foundation from a chemistry perspective.

The aim of the module is to introduce students to the main aspects of asymmetric catalysis and its application in synthetic organic chemistry.

This module will develop and extend the students’ knowledge of modern organic chemistry, so that they will be able to enter directly into a PhD programme or embark on a career as a specialist chemist.

Nanomedicine is an increasingly important multidisciplinary, global science. This is an introductory module which aims to provide students with the essential knowledge required to understand the rapidly advancing field of Nanomedicine. Following some introductory lectures, students will undertake self-directed learning alongside lectures to examine leading published research related to the design of advanced nanomedicines and clinical trials.
This module will be useful chemists who wish to develop a deeper understanding of colloid materials, gain a detailed insight into the advanced synthetic approaches used to produce nanomedicines and broaden their knowledge of pharmacology concepts. 

The aim of this module is to broaden and extend the knowledge of modern Organic Chemistry, so that students will be able to enter directly into a PhD program or embark on a career as a specialist chemist. By the end of the module students will have achieved a solid foundation in Organic Chemistry.

This module is designed to give students in the chemical sciences an appreciation of the foundations and working principles underlying the new technologies of organic electronic devices, and of the possibilities offered by the new science of single-molecule electrical measurements.

This module discusses the application of basic physical chemistry concepts for describing protein structure and dynamics and shows how advanced physical chemistry methods are used for investigating these important aspects of proteins.

Supramolecular chemistry – or, "chemistry beyond the molecule" – covers a wide range of systems including host-guest systems, clathrates, cavitands, supramolecular polymers and gels, and makes use of non-covalent interactions. These weak and reversible forces—such as hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic forces, van der Waals forces, and metal–ligand coordination—are key to understanding biological processes and self-assembling systems, and to constructing complex materials and molecular machinery. This module is an introduction to this truly interdisciplinary and evolving field.
In this module, the students will be introduced to concepts such as molecular self-assembly, host-guest complexes and biological mimics. The course will also cover the latest developments in supramolecular chemistry, and highlight some of the key challenges in the field being addressed by researchers at Liverpool and beyond.

This module focuses on the utility of organic chemistry for the industrial synthesis of a range of important natural products used in medicine, agriculture, food and perfume industry and domestic sector. It will help students to put a general knowledge of different classes of organic compounds and their reactivity into the context of real-world applications. The module will also highlight the history of discovery of some notable natural products and will demonstrate how rather obscure original findings were translated into successful industrial processes using recent developments in organic synthesis and catalysis.

​This is an advanced module that aims to introduce the student to modern nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques and their applications in analytical chemistry. The students will be able to understand the basic physical principles of NMR and to decide how to use it to tackle a particular problem of molecules and materials characterisation.

The course will build upon foundations of descriptive aspects of solid state chemistry delivered in Year 1 (CHEM111) and more advanced topics delivered in Year 3 (CHEM313) to address a wide variety of research-led topics in the area of solid state chemistry synthesis and characterisation, with a focus on some of the relevant applications in energy materials. This will provide the student with a deep and high level understanding of the properties of solids, and currently active areas of research, to enable the student to pursue their interests to a deeper level independently (for example to PhD level).

In part 1 the course covers the underpinning theory of electronic structure of solids relevant to solar energy conversion materials. In part 2 the course examines a range of established and developing solar energy conversion technologies using the concepts developed in part 1. The course revises and builds on the contents of core inorganic and physical chemistry modules from years 2 and 3.

The module will deal with nanoscale energy materials focusing on the aspects relevant to catalysis, electrocatalysis, plasmonic heating, batteries and thermal energy storage. Particular emphasis will be placed on the reasons why nanomaterials are desirable for energy storage applications.
The goals of the module are (i) to introduce nanomaterials for energy storage; (ii) to introduce nanocarbons for thermal energy storage; (iii) to describe general methods for synthesis of nanomaterials.