Chemistry MSc

The aim of this module is to give students the necessary background and research skills to be able to undertake a chemical research project. PGSC003 is the first step into the research project. After completion of this module students will have developed sufficient skills to be able to work in a research laboratory and sufficient background knowledge to be able to complete a successful chemical research project. In the first few weeks of their MSc programme, students will be assigned a research project supervisor in an area relevant to their background and interests. The supervisor and student will establish what skills the student needs to personally develop in order to be able to complete a successful research project in this area. Students will then agree a series of activities to complete in order to develop the necessary skills. Skills to be developed could include basic practical techniques, computing skills, mathematical skills, additional background knowledge etc. It is expected that these skills will be project specific so the exact nature of the module will therefore vary depending on a student’s background. In addition, all students will develop more generic research skills in information retrieval, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Health & Safety using a combination of Vital-based on-line exercises, a workshop delivered by library staff and attendance at Departmental & University safety training sessions. Students will prepare a final report, involving a comprehensive literature survey in their area of interest and a short project proposal to ensure that they can use their time constructively in their main research project.

This module will give students an overview of the most important aspects of the unique chemistry and spectroscopy of the lanthanoid and actinoid elements, illustrated with contemporary examples of the applications of their compounds in chemistry and technology.

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.

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 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.

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 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 module will provide engineering, chemistry and potentially other students an overview of  complex fluids, their processing, rheology and applications. The students will gain knowledge on: different formulations (suspensions, emulsions, foams); colloidal processing ( starting from clay as archetype, and delving into ceramic, polymer and 2D colloids); their flow and rheology; and their role in manufacturing in a diversity of processes from food processing and personal care to additive manufacturing.

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.

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 will introduce students to the fundamental principles that underpin modern medicinal chemistry of anti-infective drugs, building on the principles taught in the introductory medicinal chemistry module CHEM248.

Molecular modelling and chemical database skills are crucial in all areas of chemistry. The module introduces students to further molecular modelling techniques in chemistry and further develops their chemical database skills. In addition the students’ employability awareness and skills will be enhanced.

This module will develop essential skills for MSc students which will be needed both during the programme and beyond, whether this be further education opportunities (ie., PhD) or employment in a wide range of chemical and non-chemical based sectors. Activities include molecular modelling, use of databases, and general employability development.

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.

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 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).

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.

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.

​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 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.

The module presents the synthesis and reactivity of the most important classes of heterocyclic compounds and shows case studies drawn from major drug classes.

Organic functional materials are of increasing global importance with applications in energy, medicine and engineering. The module will build on content from CHEM241 to take a detailed look at recent developments in organic materials including high performance/​speciality polymers, porous materials and drug delivery systems.  ​

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.

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

​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.

Further Analytical Chemistry provides the students with a knowledge of the principles of structural elucidation and application of various spectroscopic and spectrometric analytical techniques for identification and structural characterization of small molecules. This module will include the fundamental principles of selected instrumental analytical techniques (solution NMR spectroscopy, mass-spectrometry, separation and hyphenated techniques) in the context of their application for structural analysis in synthetic organic chemistry and catalysis.

At the surfaces of materials, the Chemistry can be very different from that in molecules and in the bulk of materials. Having fewer neighbouring atoms and molecules than in the bulk, the surface atoms can adopt quite different bonding environments. The electronic structure is affected and therefore the reactivity of surface atoms is different. This course will introduce students to the Chemistry at surfaces, how surface structure is determined and described, what chemical processes occur at surfaces and how this knowledge is applied in particular surface chemistries and surface nanotechnology.

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.

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.

The research project will be a piece of guided but independent work undertaken within an active research group in chemistry and supervised by an active academic researcher.