Spring 2027

Advanced Inorganic Chemistry

Advanced Inorganic Chemistry emphasizes symmetry, structure, and bonding of inorganic compounds, covering transition metal, organometallic, and bioinorganic topics.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Judith Burstyn, Thomas Brunold, John Berry

The course was characterized as difficult, requiring consistent attendance and hard study because material was often too complex for self-study alone. Past students noted that homework and exams were fair and aligned with lecture content, though the overall workload remained substantial.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Apply group theory to solve problems dealing with molecular vibrations and chemical bonding.

  • Analyze experimental spectroscopic data quantitatively within the theoretical frameworks of molecular orbital theory or ligand field theory.

  • Explain the role of organometallic complexes and metalloenzymes in the key steps of catalytic cycles.

  • Perform electronic structure calculations (e.g., density functional theory) for small molecules and transition metal complexes and validate the computational results using experimental observables (e.g., structural and spectroscopic data).

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(CHEM 345 or concurrent enrollment and junior standing) or graduate/professional standing

CHEM 511 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JOHN BERRY is recorded teaching in Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JUDITH BURSTYN is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Fall 2010. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

THOMAS BRUNOLD is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2008, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2023, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 240

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · John Berry, Thomas Brunold

Students described past instructors as clear, patient, and supportive, with lectures that were enjoyable and well-paced. Reviewers noted that professors often simplified complex material and made significant effort to ensure student understanding.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.94 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.58 GPA, 76.9% A/AB (n=13 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.86 GPA, 95.5% A/AB (n=22 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Judith Burstyn, Thomas Brunold, John Berry

The course was characterized as difficult, requiring consistent attendance and hard study because material was often too complex for self-study alone. Past students noted that homework and exams were fair and aligned with lecture content, though the overall workload remained substantial.

Past student reviews · Judith Burstyn, Thomas Brunold, John Berry

Students found grading to be generous, with one reviewer stating an A was reasonable and another noting a high class average. Professors were described as accessible, frequently stopping class to answer questions or holding helpful office hours.

Topics

  • Symmetry, structure, and bonding of inorganic compounds
  • Transition metal chemistry, organometallic chemistry, industrial catalysis, bioinorganic chemistry, solid-state chemistry, and main group chemistry
  • Group theory, molecular vibrations, and chemical bonding
  • Spectroscopic data analysis, molecular orbital theory, and ligand field theory
  • Electronic structure calculations and density functional theory

Skills

  • Applying group theory to solve problems involving molecular vibrations and chemical bonding.
  • Analyzing experimental spectroscopic data quantitatively using molecular orbital theory or ligand field theory.
  • Explaining the role of organometallic complexes and metalloenzymes in catalytic cycles.
  • Performing electronic structure calculations such as density functional theory and validating results with experimental observables.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
CHEM 511 · Spring 2027

Advanced Inorganic Chemistry

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:224:002776",
    "course_id": "CHEM 511",
    "course_uid": "course_3c009c0fe685bfe140508df0",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "002776",
    "source_subject_id": "224",
    "title": "Advanced Inorganic Chemistry",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "4611afab63f92fc3489c6406930502e8d7411cff7fe6749febf0b13b841285dd",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}