DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

Achieving Energy Abundance in the Energy Transition (Winter 2026; Ted Sargent)

Electricity demand in the US and globally has entered into a new regime of growth, powered by rapid scaling of data centers in light of AI’s progress, combined with reshoring and electrification of manufacturing.

This considerable energy demand growth will need to be fulfilled rapidly; with firm guarantees re: the dependability of the electricity; and affordably. More and more of this energy will have to be lower in its CO2 intensity than has been legacy energy production.

This will entail rapid progress in solar and wind with storage; geothermal; nuclear; and blue power. Looking more broadly across sectors, it will require innovative sustainable fuels and chemicals to power transportation, to feed the needs of industry, and to fulfill the growing energy requirements of individuals, including in high-growth emerging economies.

We will explore issues of a scientific and engineering nature; as well as of systems, economics, and policy; relating to achieving the needed growth in energy during the energy transition. We will study the global potential, as well as the realistic technical capacity, of the major current and future contributors to the energy mix; look at areas of science and technology that require advances to enable sustainable growth and maintain global competitiveness; and consider the links to national and international economics and politics.

Quantum mechanics, electronic structure, periodic properties of elements, chemical bonding, thermodynamics, intermolecular forces, properties of solids and liquids, solutions and colligative properties. Must be taken concurrently with the Chem 141-0 laboratory course. 

Prerequisite: Chem 110-0 (C- or better). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Chemical analysis of real samples using basic laboratory techniques including titration, colorimetric analysis, density measurements, and atomic spectroscopy. Planning, data collection, interpretation, and reporting on experiments. Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 131-0.

Prerequisite: CHEM 110-0 (C- or better). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Chemical equilibrium, aqueous solution equilibria, chemical kinetics, metals in chemistry and biology, oxidation-reduction reactions and electrochemistry. Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 162-0 laboratory course. 

Prerequisites: CHEM 151-0 and CHEM 161-0 (C- or better in both courses). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Chemistry laboratory techniques applied to materials science and nanotechnology, acid-base chemistry, and chemical kinetics. Planning, data collection, interpretation, and reporting on experiments.  Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 152-0 lecture course.

Prerequisites: CHEM 151-0 and CHEM 161-0 (C- or better in both courses). Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Thermodynamics and equilibrium; chemical kinetics and mechanism; electrochemistry; electronic structure of the atom and quantum theory; advanced topics in chemical bonding; coordination compounds; solid-state chemistry; nuclear chemistry. Must be taken concurrently with the CHEM 182-0 laboratory course. 

Prerequisites: CHEM 171-0 and CHEM 181-0 (C– or better in both courses); MATH 220-1. Students may not start the sequence in this course. All General Chemistry course sequences start in Fall Quarter.

Fundamental concepts in organic chemistry will be covered. The topics will include important functional groups and will include: nomenclature, structure, properties, and multistep synthesis. Reaction mechanisms for organic transformations will be presented, and synthesis strategies will be covered.

Prerequisite: CHEM 215-1 and CHEM 235-1 (C– or better). Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 235-2.

Fundamental concepts in organic chemistry will be covered. The topics will include important functional groups and will include: nomenclature, structure, properties, and multistep synthesis. Reaction mechanisms for organic transformations will be presented, and synthesis strategies will be covered.

Prerequisite: CHEM 215-1 and CHEM 235-1 (C– or better). Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 235-2.

Complete laboratory experiments focusing on standard synthetic organic chemistry will be conducted each week. Students will complete a prelab worksheet including stoichiometric calculations, prediction of reaction outcome, and identification of safety protocols.

Prerequisite: CHEM 215-1 and CHEM 235-1 (C- or better). Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 215-2.

Complete laboratory experiments focusing on standard synthetic organic chemistry will be conducted each week. Students will complete a prelab worksheet including stoichiometric calculations, prediction of reaction outcome, and identification of safety protocols.

Prerequisite: CHEM 215-1 and CHEM 235-1 (C- or better). Must be taken concurrently with CHEM 215-2.

In this course, students will gain a solid understanding of the science, economics, and more importantly the environmental impact associated with various technologies, including, but not limited to natural gas, nuclear, wind, etc. Climate change and the potential impact and mitigation will be considered throughout the course.

Prerequisites: CHEM 215-2 or CHEM 212-3 or CHEM 217-3 (C- or better); MATH 230-2; PHYSICS 135-1 and PHYSICS 135-2; or consent of instructor.

Taught with CHEM 406. Undergraduates should enroll in CHEM 306, unless they are officially completing the BA/MS program.

This course is an introduction to quantum mechanics and includes applications in spectroscopy. Topics to be covered include: The wave equation (the transition from classical to quantum mechanics), the Schrodinger equation, particle-in-a-box models, QM operators, the postulates of QM, the harmonic oscillator and rigid rotor, the hydrogen atom, multi-electron atoms, and approximate methods for solving the Schrodinger equation.

Prerequisites: CHEM 342-1; Math 230-1 (230-2 recommended also); Physics 135-1/136-1 and PHYSICS 135-2/136-2.

This course will focus on modern topics in physical organic chemistry, emphasizing the relationship between structure and reactivity. Topics to be covered include orbital symmetry and reactivity, energy surfaces and Marcus theory, single-electron transfer reactions, solvent effects, nucleophilic and electrophilic reactivity, radical reactions, spin dynamics, photochemistry and photocatalysis, organic electronic materials, and organic materials for quantum information applications.

Taught with CHEM 310-2. Undergraduates should enroll in CHEM 319, unless they are completing the BA/MS program.

Supramolecular and Systems Chemistry: This course will foster a deep understanding of host-guest chemistry and physical organic characterization of binding, adsorption within polymers and solids, dynamic processes (molecular shuttling, ratcheting, molecular machines), and systems chemistry (out of equilibrium and fuel-driven assemblies). It will focus on primary literature and review articles of contemporary interest. Students will be expected to search the chemical literature, lead discussions of relevant papers, write critical assessments of papers and preprints, and write short proposals at the frontiers of these areas.

Electronic Structure and Spectroscopy: This course is a survey of the electronic structures and spectroscopies of transition metal complexes. Beginning with ligand field theory, we will turn our attention to the assembly of molecular orbital diagrams to describe structure and bonding. Historical and modern methods of electronic spectroscopy will be discussed in the context of the primary sources in the literature. Topics may include electronic transitions (light-driven or otherwise), vibronic coupling, and magnetism.

Chemical dynamics of atoms, molecules, and materials in gas and condensed phases:

This graduate level course explores the microscopic dynamics at atomic and molecular levels that give rise to the macroscopic chemical kinetics that are typically understood by a rate of a chemical reaction or process. The course covers a full range of chemical dynamics, beginning with elementary dynamics occurring in gas phases and going up through more complex dynamics of molecular ensembles in condensed phase environments and at interfaces. Our discussion necessarily includes modern spectroscopic methods (steady state and time-resolved spanning terahertz, infrared, visible, UV, and X-ray spectral ranges) that are used to quantify and interpret chemical dynamics in nonequilibrium processes.

This course is strongly encouraged for graduate students in chemistry and engineering whose research will involve dynamic chemical processes and the use of any spectroscopic method to understand them (e.g., photochemistry, lasers, catalysis, batteries, materials design and synthesis, atmospheric chemistry, chemical reaction engineering and reactor design, electrochemistry, nanoscience, and more!)

This course is structured to enhance graduate students’ ability to understand aspects of their research more deeply and to benefit their progress in graduate school. The course also aims to provide opportunities to seed research collaborations through a brief final group-based project.

Optical Materials and Nanophotonics: This course will focus on the fundamentals and applications of light and its interactions with materials. We will discuss the properties of different materials, relate microscopic descriptions to measured macroscopic properties, connect how size, shape, and structure affect optical properties, and be exposed to state-of-the-art tools necessary for research in nanophotonics. These concepts will be applied and integrated into modern research problems at Northwestern University and applications of current technical interest in society.