AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Providing the basic knowledge related to the blocks of any analytical process: formulation of the problem, choice of the analytical method, measurements, processing of chemical information.

TEACHING METHODS

Taught classes, aulaweb support.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Methodology of Analytical Chemistry

The analytical process. Sampling. Quantities and measurement units. Description of the system. Scales of an analytical process. Axioms and violations. Accuracy, precision, exactness. Sensitivity. Calibration techniques: reduced concentration range, series of standards in real matrices, series of standards in synthetic matrices, standard addition, internal standard. Sensitivity, limit of detection, limit of quantification. Traceability.

Chemical equilibria in solution

Elements of chemical thermodynamics: energy, free enthalpy, chemical potential, activity, chemical equilibrium, equilibrium constants, complete reactions, reaction conditions, activity coefficients, solvent. Chemical reactions: mechanism and kinetics. Brønsted acid-base reactions: solvents (properties and classification), water as a solvent, protolysis reactions in water. Computation of equilibrium concentrations. Neutralisation curve (S and V). Mixtures of different acids, polyprotic acids, neutralisation curves for two acids, effect of dilution. Buffer power. Charts for the study of acid-base reactions. Flood diagrams. Distribution diagrams. Protolysis in non-aqueous solvents. Complexation reactions: principles, complexes with ligands and chelating ligands, neutralisation curves. Precipitation reactions: principles, computations, concurrent reactions. Redox reactions: homogeneous redox equilibria. Electrochemical equilibria. Potential vs. pH diagrams.

Applications of statistics in analytical chemistry

Principles of descriptive statistics. Random experiments, population, sample. Absolute frequency, relative frequency. Random variables. Statistical regularity. Frequency distributions. Probability distributions. Normal distribution. Theorem of the central limit. Continuous variables, frequency histogram. Probability distributions for continuous variables. Location, dispersion, descriptive parameters for probability distributions. Location and dispersion of a sample. Standard normal distribution. Significance. Propagation of uncertainty. Distribution of the mean, chi-squared, Student, and Fisher distributions. Test on a single sample of N repetitions. Test on the means of two different samples. Coupled data from normal distributions with unknown variances. Test on a single variance. Test on the variances of two samples. Tests for randomness. Range and median statistics. Binomial distribution. Outliers. Goodness of fit. Analysis of variance. Bivariate experiments, bivariate confidence intervals. Univariate regression. Homoscedastic linear regression, least squares method. Tests on slope and intercept. Homoscedastic linear regression through the origin. Robust methods for univariate regression (single median).

Instrumental analytical signals and basic treatments

Time and frequency domains. Fourier transform (basic concepts). Drift and noise. Moving average. Savitzky-Golay method (filtering and derivation). Interpolation and smoothing with cubic spline algorithms.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Equilibria:

• Valerio Di Marco, Paolo Pastore, G. Giorgio Bombi, "Chimica Analitica - Trattazione algebrica e grafica degli equilibri chimici in soluzione acquosa", EdiSES, ISBN 9788879598842

Statistics:

• Michele Forina, "Fondamenta per la Chimica Analitica", Edizioni SISNIR, ISBN 9788890406461, liberamente scaricabile dal sito della Società Italiana di Spettroscopia NIR: http://www.sisnir.org/index.php/edsisnir/10-fondamenti-di-chemiometria

Further readings:

• M. Forina, "Introduzione alla Chimica Analitica", ECIG, Genova, 2003, ISBN: 887545986X.
• D.A. Skoog, D.M. West, F.J. Holler, S.R. Crouch "Fondamenti di Chimica Analitica", EDISES, Napoli, 2005, ISBN: 8879593005
• D.S. Hage, J.D. Carr, "Chimica Analitica e Analisi quantitativa", Piccin, Padova, 2012, ISBN: 9788829921188

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

PAOLO OLIVERI (President)

RAFFAELLA BOGGIA

MONICA CASALE

RICCARDO LEARDI

CRISTINA MALEGORI

LESSONS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of one written test and an oral. The written test have to be completed within 120 minutes and gives access to the oral (in case of positive outcome). The oral test, on the contents of the course, has an average duration of 30 minutes.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Assessment of understanding and knowledge of the topics studied in the course, through the solving of analytical chemical problems, interpretation of diagrams, and critical discussion of case studies.

Exam schedule