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BY MARUTHUPANDI M , M.SC CHEMISTRY, VIVEKANANDA

COLLEGE ,MADURAI, TN,INDIA.

Competitive Examination Chemistry

in India

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1)CSIR UGC NET (CHEMICAL SCIENCES)

CSIR UGC COMBINED NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY TEST (CSIR UGC NET) for RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP & LECTURESHIP for chemical sciences is conducted twice every year (in June & in December) to select right candidates to award research fellowships, initially for two years (JRF) which can be further extended for three more years (SRF). This exam is also popularly known as CSIR NET or CSIR UGC NET exam.

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2)GATE (CHEMISTRY)

GATE exam is conducted once in every year in chemical sciences along with other engineering subjects. It is organized by IIT's and the purpose of this exam is to select candidates who want to pursue their masters courses in technology (M. Tech). The candidates with very good GATE score are also eligible to get the CSIR scholarship in some selected institutes and preferred over others while taking into project work.

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3)CSIR NET EXAM PATTERN (NEW)

* A single paper test having multiple choice questions (MCQs) * carries a maximum of 200 marks. * is divided into three parts (A, B & C).* conducted for the duration of 3 hours.* negative marking @25% for each wrong answer.

Part # of questions To be attempted

Marks allotted per each question

Maximum marks

A  20 15 2 30B 50 35 2 70C 75 25 4 100

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Part - A  

carries 20 questions and is common to all the subjects. The candidate is required to answer any 15 questions. Each correct answer is awarded with 2 marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 30 out of 200.

The revised pattern for this part will test general aptitude with emphasis on logical reasoning, graphical analysis, analytical and numerical ability, quantitative comparison, series formation, puzzles etc. There is no syllabus prescribed for this. 

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Part - B 

contains 50 multiple choice questions generally covering the topics given in the syllabus. A candidate is required to answer any 35 questions and each correct answer is awarded with 2 marks. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 70 out of 200.

The standards of these questions from this section may range from 10+2 to PG level in chemistry subject.

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Part - C 

consists of 75 questions. A candidate shall be required to answer any 25 questions, each carrying 4 marks. The maximum marks allocated to this section is 100 out of 200.

The questions shall be of analytical nature where a candidate is expected to apply the scientific knowledge in chemistry to arrive at the solution to the given problem.

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% Cutoff marks for Chemical sciences (2016) 18th December

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4)CSIR NET CHEMITRY SYLLABUS

The syllabus for CSIR NET and GATE exams including other exams for Ph.D entrance exams is almost same. The common syllabus for both part B & C of CSIR NET exam in chemical sciences is given below.

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5) Inorganic Chemistry1. Chemical periodicity 2. Structure and bonding in homo and hetero nuclear molecules, including shapes of molecules (VSEPR Theory). 3. Concepts of acids and bases, Hard-Soft acid base concept, Non-aqueous solvents. 4. Main group elements and their compounds: Allotropy, synthesis, structure and bonding, industrial importance of the compounds. 5. Transition elements and coordination compounds: structure, bonding theories, spectral and magnetic properties, reaction mechanisms. 6. Inner transition elements: spectral and magnetic properties, redox chemistry, analytical applications. 

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7. Organometallic compounds: synthesis, bonding and structure, and reactivity. Organometallics in homogeneous catalysis. 8. Cages and metal clusters. 9. Analytical chemistry- separation, spectroscopic, electro- and thermoanalytical methods. 10. Bioinorganic chemistry: photosystems, porphyrins, metalloenzymes, oxygen transport, electron- transfer reactions; nitrogen fixation, metal complexes in medicine. 11. Characterization of inorganic compounds by IR, Raman, NMR, EPR, Mossbauer, UV-vis, NQR, MS, electron spectroscopy and microscopic techniques. 12. Nuclear chemistry: nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, radio-analytical techniques and activation analysis.

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6) Physical Chemistry1. Basic principles of quantum mechanics: Postulates; operator algebra; exactly- solvable systems: particle-in-a-box, harmonic oscillator and the hydrogen atom, including shapes of atomic orbitals; orbital and spin angular momenta; tunneling. 2. Approximate methods of quantum mechanics: Variational principle; perturbation theory up to second order in energy; applications. 3. Atomic structure and spectroscopy; term symbols; many-electron systems and anti-symmetry principle. 4. Chemical bonding in diatomics; elementary concepts of MO and VB theories; Huckel theory for conjugated p-electron systems. 5. Chemical applications of group theory; symmetry elements; point groups; character tables; selection rules.6. Molecular spectroscopy: Rotational and vibrational spectra of diatomic molecules; electronic spectra; IR and Raman activities- selection rules; basic principles of magnetic resonance. 7. Chemical thermodynamics: Laws, state and path functions and their applications; thermodynamic description of various types of processes; Maxwell's relations; spontaneity and equilibria; temperature and pressure dependence of thermodynamic quantities; Le Chatelier principle; elementary description of phase transitions; phase equilibria and phase rule; thermodynamics of ideal and non-ideal gases, and solutions. 

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8. Statistical thermodynamics: Boltzmann distribution; kinetic theory of gases; partition functions and their relation to thermodynamic quantities - calculations for model systems. 9. Electrochemistry: Nernst equation, redox systems, electrochemical cells; DebyeHuckel theory; electrolytic conductance -  Kohlrausch's law and its applications; ionic equilibria; conductometric and potentiometric titrations. 10. Chemical kinetics: Empirical rate laws and temperature dependence; complex reactions; steady state approximation; determination of reaction mechanisms; collision and transition state theories of rate constants; unimolecular reactions; enzyme kinetics; salt effects; homogeneous catalysis; photochemical reactions. 11. Colloids and surfaces: Stability and properties of colloids; isotherms and surface area; heterogeneous catalysis. 12. Solid state: Crystal structures; Bragg's law and applications; band structure of solids. 13. Polymer chemistry: Molar masses; kinetics of polymerization. 14. Data analysis: Mean and standard deviation; absolute and relative errors; linear regression; covariance and correlation coefficient.

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7) Organic Chemistry

1. IUPAC nomenclature of organic molecules including regio- and stereoisomers. 2. Principles of stereochemistry: Configurational and conformational isomerism in acyclic and cyclic compounds; stereogenicity, stereoselectivity, enantioselectivity, diastereoselectivity and asymmetric induction. 3. Aromaticity: Benzenoid and non-benzenoid compounds - generation and reactions. 4. Organic reactive intermediates: Generation, stability and reactivity of carbocations, carbanions, free radicals, carbenes, benzynes and nitrenes.5. Organic reaction mechanisms involving addition, elimination and substitution reactions with electrophilic, nucleophilic or radical species. Determination of reaction pathways. 6. Common named reactions and rearrangements - applications in organic synthesis. 7. Organic transformations and reagents: Functional group interconversion including oxidations and reductions; common catalysts and reagents (organic, inorganic, organometallic and enzymatic). Chemo, regio and stereoselective transformations. 

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8. Concepts in organic synthesis: Retrosynthesis, disconnection, synthons, linear and convergent synthesis, umpolung of reactivity and protecting groups. 9. Asymmetric synthesis: Chiral auxiliaries, methods of asymmetric induction - substrate, reagent and catalyst controlled reactions; determination of enantiomeric and diastereomeric excess; enantio-discrimination. Resolution - optical and kinetic. 10. Pericyclic reactions - electrocyclization, cycloaddition, sigmatropic rearrangements and other related concerted reactions. Principles and applications of photochemical reactions in organic chemistry. 

11. Synthesis and reactivity of common heterocyclic compounds containing one or two hetero atoms (O, N, S). 12. Chemistry of natural products: Carbohydrates, proteins and peptides, fatty acids, nucleic acids, terpenes, steroids and alkaloids. Biogenesis of terpenoids and alkaloids. 13. Structure determination of organic compounds by IR, UV-Vis, 1 H & 13 C NMR and Mass spectroscopic techniques.

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8) Interdisciplinary topics

1. Chemistry in nanoscience and technology.2. Catalysis and green chemistry.3. Medicinal chemistry.4. Supramolecular chemistry.5. Environmental chemistry.

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9) PREPARATION (OR) PLAN OF ACTION FOR CSIR UGC NET EXAM

Most common question asked by students is "What should be the plan of action to crack CSIR NET exam?" or "How should I prepare for this exam".

My sincere, but very simple, suggestion is to read standard textbooks (see the list of suggested textbooks) and solve old question papers of CSIR, GATE, IISc etc. If you are already done with reading lots of classroom notes and other textbooks then start with solving old question papers. This is the best way to crack any exam.

What should be the plan of action?

For Part-A, one can go through books on General Aptitude and Logical Reasoning.

For Part-B, you need to be thorough in all the areas of chemistry from 10+2 level to undergraduate level. Everything is important here.

For Part-C, choose any area of chemical sciences i.e, either organic or inorganic or physical, depending on your taste and  specialization at PG level.

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Always choose right books and solve the previous question papers in a logical manner.Few pupil are also asking for important topics/books, mostly for Paper-C. Following is a possible combination of topics/books you can choose.

  Paper-A Paper-B Paper-C

Combination-1Books on General

Aptitude & logical reasoning

10+2 NCERT Chemistry textbooks 

+ undergraduate level

chemistry books

Organic Books 

Combination-2 -----do------ -----do------ Inorganic Books

Combination-3 -----do------ -----do------ Physical Books

IF YOU STILL HAVE QUESTIONS RELATED TO PREPARATION PLEASE GO THROUGH THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS SECTION.

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10) SUGGESTED BOOKS FOR CSIR UGC NET & GATE CHEMICAL SCIENCES

The best suggestion to crack any exam is to go through the textbooks written by authorities in the respective fields. Following is a list of textbooks in different areas of chemical sciences. Actual list is very vast. However, it is better to go through only few books that are followed by professors at our universities and IITs.

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11) INORGANIC CHEMISTRY BOOKS

1) Inorganic chemistry by Shriver & Atkins (Suggested by most of Indian Institutues of Technology. Solve the exercises given inside and at the end of each chapter to master this subject.)2) Inorganic chemistry by Catherine E. Housecroft (Another favorite of IIT professors. The NCERT chemistry textbooks have the material referenced from this book.)3) Inorganic chemistry by Miessler (I like this book for its simple and straight forward explanation.)4) Inorganic chemistry: Principles of structure and reactivity by James E. Huheey (You will start appreciating inorganic chemistry after reading this book. I enjoyed and learned a lot from this fantastic text book.)5) Advanced inorganic chemistry by F. Albert Cotton & Geoffrey Wilkinson (Must for an inorganic chemist. But you need lots of patience to feel like a Jargon.)6) The organometallic chemistry of the transition metals by Robert H. Crabtree7) NMR, NQR, EPR & MOSSBAUER Spectroscopy in inorganic chemistry by R.V.Parish8) Biological inorganic chemistry: An introduction by Robert R.Chrichton9) Bioinorganic chemistry: A short course by Rosette M. Roat-Malone.

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12) ORGANIC CHEMISTRY BOOKS1) Organic chemistry by Clayden, Greeves, Warren & Wothers (I think already you know about this famous book. Not only written in a lucid manner and is very important for those who dare to attempt organic questions from part C of CSIR NET exam. Most of the previous organic questions are straightly from this book. Just enjoy reading this book and earn easy points.)2) Modern methods of organic synthesis by William Carruthers & Iain Coldham (Refer this book for advanced organic synthesis. Another book from which most of the organic questions are dumped into the exam.)3) Advanced organic chemistry by J March (A must reference book).4) Pericyclic reactions by Ian Fleming.5) Modern organic synthesis: An introduction by Michael H. Nantz (Book with straight forward explanations)6) Spectrometric identification of organic compounds by Robert M. Silverstein.7) Introduction to organic photochemistry by John D. Coyle.8) Advanced organic chemistry (Part A & B) by Francis A. Carey & Richard J. Sundberg (Great reference book for organic synthesis).9) Named organic reactions by Thomas laue & Andreas Plagens.

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13) PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY BOOKS

1) Physical chemistry by P.W. Atkins & Julio De Paula (Read the book. Solve the exercises & problems given. That is sufficient.)2) Physical chemistry by Ira N. Levine3)physical chemistry by puri sharma4) Physical chemistry by Robert G. Mortimer

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Man labelling himself as the Hindu , Christian ,

Muslim is not the chief thing .

His living an exalted life is all in all.

by Swami

Vivekananda .