STPT TO : Scientific & Technical Proficiency Test – Track Change for Scientific Assistant to Technical Officer

STPT-TO Exam Syllabus – Chemistry

Scientific & Technical Proficiency Test – Track Change for Technical Officer

Syllabus approved by Government of India, BARC, TC & TSC Secretariat, STPT syllabus, No. TC/201/NC-3 (Action)/ 2025/113671/ dated 16.03.2026

1. Basic Inorganic Chemistry

Chemical bonding and various theories of covalency; types of bonding: ionic, covalent and metallic; valence bond theory; hybridization of atomic orbitals; molecular geometry and shape; fluxional behaviour of molecules; MO theory; diatomic homonuclear species (O₂, N₂); involvement of d-orbitals and CFT; bond energy; sigma (σ), pi (π), delta (δ) bonds; polarity; Fajan’s rule; deformation of ions; non-covalent interactions; supramolecules; hydrogen bonding.
Acid-base concepts and principles; Arrhenius; Bronsted Lowry; conjugate acids-bases; Lewis; HSAB; strength of acids and bases; acid-base equilibrium; indicator; Henderson equation; pH and buffer; non-aqueous solvents.
Chemistry of main group elements and their compounds; transition metal chemistry; isomerism; structure and bonding; crystal field and ligand field theories of transition metal complexes; thermodynamic and kinetic stability; electronic spectroscopy and magnetic behaviour of transition metal complexes and inorganic compounds; chemistry of f-block elements.
Structure and bonding in polyhedral boranes and carboranes; the styx notation; Wade’s rule; electron count in polyhedral boranes; synthesis of polyhedral boranes; isolobal principle; boron halides; phosphine-boranes; borazine; organyls of Al, Ga, In and Tl; silanes; silicon halides; silicates; silanols; germanium, tin and lead organyls; phosphorous halides; acids and oxyacids; phosphazenes; sulphur halides; oxo acids of sulphur; structural features and reactivity of S-N heterocycles; chemistry of halogens and group 18 elements; sigma and pi-bonded ligands (CO, phosphines, carbenes, etc.).
Homogeneous Catalysis: Elementary organometallic reactions; hydrogenation; cross-coupling; carbonylation; reductive amination.
Heterogeneous Catalysis: Adsorption isotherms; surface area; pore size and acid strength measurements; porous solids; catalysis by metals, semiconductors and solid acids; supported metal catalysts; catalyst preparation, deactivation and regeneration; model catalysts for ammonia synthesis, hydrogenation of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon conversion.

2. Spectroscopy

The rigid diatomic rotor; energy eigenvalues and eigenstates; selection rules; intensity of rotational transitions; role of rotational level degeneracy; role of nuclear spin in determining allowed rotational energy levels; classification of polyatomic rotors and the non-rigid rotor.
Vibrational spectroscopy; harmonic and anharmonic oscillators; Morse potential; mechanical and electrical anharmonicity; selection rules; determination of anharmonicity constant and equilibrium vibrational frequency from fundamental and overtones; normal modes of vibration.
Raman spectroscopy; polarizability and selection rules for rotation and vibrational Raman spectra; symmetry and point group analysis of simple inorganic compounds; prediction of number of active modes of vibrations in simple molecules; infrared and Raman spectroscopy of simple inorganic molecules.
Magnetic Resonance (MR): Expression for Hamiltonian/Energy; Zeeman interaction; torque exerted by a magnetic field on spins; equation, its solution and physical picture of precession; thermal equilibrium and Curie susceptibility; expressions for MR spectral sensitivity; approach to equilibrium; Bloch equations; rotating frame; steady state (continuous wave) and transient (pulsed) experiments; complex Fourier transform; isotropic and anisotropic interactions; Nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE); steady state NOE; sensitivity enhancement; transient NOE; interatomic distance information from NMR; EPR Hamiltonian; theory of g-factors in EPR; EPR of transition metal complexes and rare earth complexes; theory of hyperfine interactions in π-type free radicals; McConnell relation.
Mass Spectrometry: Basic principles; ionization techniques; isotope abundance; molecular ion; illustrative examples from supramolecules, inorganic/coordination and organometallic compounds.

3. Solid State Chemistry & Materials Science

Crystal Structure: Crystalline and amorphous solids; one and two dimensional lattices; crystal systems; Bravais lattices; point groups; α-Po, fcc, bcc and hcp metals and their packing efficiency; ionic radii ratios; structure types of ionic solids: CsCl, NaCl, diamond, ZnS, Na₂O, CaF₂, CdCl₂, NiAs, ZnO, CdI₂, Cs₂O, PbO, TiO₂, ReO₃, perovskite ABO₃, YBa₂Cu₃O₇, K₂NiF₄, Ag₂HgI₄, spinels and olivine; polyhedral structure description of solid state compounds; Frenkel and Schottky defects; colour centres; different types of defects in inorganic compounds; metals and alloys.
Powder X-ray Diffraction: Indexing of powder XRD patterns; systematic absences; structure factor; determination of lattice type, unit cell parameter and density for fcc, bcc and hcp metals, NaCl, ZnS, diamond, CuZn, CuAu, AuCu₃ and other simple compounds; basic aspects of neutron diffraction.
Preparative Methods: Solid state reaction; chemical precursor method; co-precipitation; sol-gel; metathesis; self-propagating high temperature synthesis; ion-exchange reactions; intercalation/deintercalation reactions; hydrothermal and template synthesis; high pressure synthesis.
Electrical Properties: Band theory of solids; metals and their properties; semiconductors – extrinsic and intrinsic; Hall effect; thermoelectric effects (Thomson, Peltier and Seebeck); insulators – dielectric, ferroelectric, pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties; multiferroics.
Magnetism and Superconductivity: Dia, para, ferro, ferri and antiferromagnetic materials; soft and hard magnetic materials; structure and magnetic properties of representative magnetic materials such as spinels, garnets and perovskites, hexaferrites and lanthanide-transition metal compounds; basic aspects of superconductivity; discovery of high-temperature superconducting (high Tc) materials.

4. Thermodynamics

Equilibrium Thermodynamics: Concept of thermodynamic equilibrium; thermal, mechanical and chemical equilibrium; Euler equation; Gibbs-Duhem relation; maximum entropy and minimum energy principle; thermodynamic potentials; Maxwell relations and their simple applications; stability condition for thermodynamic potential; different orders of phase transitions; Clausius-Clapeyron equation; Gibbs phase rule; thermodynamics in the neighbourhood of the critical point with emphasis on scaling and universality; thermodynamics of small systems with emphasis on interfacial energy.
Statistical Thermodynamics: Ensemble and ensemble averages; partition function and thermodynamic potential; electronic, translational, vibrational and rotational partition functions for hetero and homonuclear diatomic molecules; calculation of equilibrium constant and other applications of statistical methods.

5. Analytical Chemistry

Principles and Applications of Separation Techniques: Solvent extraction technique – conventional, liquid membranes, bulk, supported and emulsified; solid phase extraction (SPE); ion exchange – conventional and membranes; chromatography – gas chromatography (GC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ion chromatography (IC), supercritical extraction chromatography; capillary electrophoresis.
Electrochemical Methods: Introduction; potentiometry; ion selective electrodes (ISE); voltammetry and polarography; cyclic, pulse and stripping voltammetry; coulometry and amperometry; AC electrochemical techniques.
Statistics in Chemical Analysis: Methods of sampling and associated errors; classification of errors; propagation of errors; treatment of errors; normal distribution; tests of significance and confidence limits.
Spectro-chemical Methods: Principles of different types of absorption and emission spectroscopic techniques for chemical analysis; their advantages and disadvantages; single atom detection.
Thermal Methods: Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA); derivative thermogravimetric analysis (DTG); differential thermal analysis (DTA); differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); evolved gas analysis (EGA).
Nuclear Methods: Activation analysis; neutron activation analysis (NAA); charged particle activation analysis (CPAA); X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry.

6. Physical Chemistry

Kinetic Theory of Gases: Taxonomy of collisions; derivation of mechanical pressure equation and ideal gas equation from kinetic theory.
Transport Properties: Transport coefficients; thermal conductivity; viscosity; diffusion; calculation of transport coefficients from kinetic theory; theory of electrolytic solutions; ionic conductivity; Kohlrausch’s law; transport numbers.
Chemical Kinetics: Intermolecular interaction potential; collision theory; potential energy surfaces; activated complex theory; adiabatic and non-adiabatic reactions; Lindemann’s theory of unimolecular reactions – energy transfer; Hinshelwood’s treatment; Rice-Ramsperger and Kassel (RRK) model; Marcus refinement of RRK model (RRKM) for calculation of rate constants of simple unimolecular reactions.

7. Nuclear and Radiochemistry

Radioactivity: Radioactive decay laws; half-life and radioactive equilibrium; concept of nucleus; nuclear mass and binding energy; nuclear force; liquid drop model; shell model; concept of spin, parity, electric and magnetic moments; isomerism; α-decay; β-decay; electron capture; γ-decay; internal conversion.
Nuclear Reaction and Fission: Energetics; cross-section; centre of mass system; angular momentum; compound nucleus; statistical model; nuclear fission; mass distribution; accelerators; nuclear properties of actinides; synthesis of heavy actinides.
Techniques in Nuclear Chemistry: Target preparation and target chemistry; radiochemical separations; concept of tracer and carrier; chemical yield; radiochemical purity; application of radiotracers in chemical sciences; determination of half-life.
Basic Concepts of Actinide Chemistry: Synthesis of trans-uranic elements; chemical properties of actinide elements; variable oxidation states; redox behaviour; coordination chemistry; complexation with inorganic and organic ligands.

8. Quantum Chemistry

Exactly Solvable Problems: Particle in a box and ring; simple harmonic oscillator; rigid rotor and hydrogen atom.
Approximation Methods: Variation method; perturbation theory for time-independent and time-dependent systems.
Many-Electron Systems: Hartree-Fock theory and beyond.
Chemical Binding in Simple Molecular Systems: Valence bond and molecular orbital theories; concept of LCAO; introduction to ab-initio and semi-empirical molecular orbital calculations of molecules; extended systems – from bonds to bands.

9. Radiation and Photochemistry

Interaction of High-energy Radiation with Matter: Chemical consequences; absorption coefficients; G-values; track entities and linear energy transfer (LET) effects; radiation sources.
Radiation Chemistry of Water: Radiolysis of water; radical and molecular yields; material balance; dosimetry.
Photochemistry: Electronic transitions; oscillator strength; selection rules; Franck-Condon principle; absorption, emission and excitation spectra; charge-transfer spectra; de-excitation processes; fluorescence; phosphorescence; delayed emission; heavy atom effect; kinetics of excited state processes; quantum yields of photo-processes; mechanism of quenching; steady-state absorption and fluorescence techniques; time-resolved absorption and fluorescence techniques such as time-correlated single photon counting; Norrish type 1 and 2 reactions.

10. Electrochemistry – Fundamentals and Applications

Electrochemistry of Solutions: Ion-solvent interactions; ion-ion interactions; ionic migration and diffusion; phenomenological description of transport processes.
Thermodynamics of Galvanic Cells: Equilibrium electrode potentials; IUPAC convention for electrode potentials; thermodynamics of electrochemical cells and applications.
Electrical Double Layer: Theories of double-layer structure; adsorption of ions and neutral compounds; electro-capillary and differential capacitance measurements; influence of double layer on charge transfer processes; reference electrodes – polarizable and non-polarizable systems; types of reference and working electrodes.
Electrode Kinetics: Current-potential relationship; derivation of Butler-Volmer and Tafel equations; adsorption isotherms for intermediates formed by charge transfer; Langmuir adsorption and its limitations; relating bulk concentration to surface coverage; types of overpotentials, their origin and minimization; mechanism of hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions; transition state theory and Gibbs free energy of activation; bulk electrolysis; under-potential deposition of metals and applications in catalysis.
Corrosion: Different types of corrosion; influence of environment; Evans diagram; Pourbaix diagram; corrosion rate measurements; Stern-Geary equation; mixed potential theory; prevention of corrosion.

11. Basic Organic Chemistry

Structure, Bonding & Physical Organic Chemistry: Nature of bonding; resonance; hyperconjugation; inductive and field effects; aromaticity; acidity/basicity; stereoelectronic effects; reaction coordinate diagrams for SN1 and SN2 reactions; Hammond postulate; Curtin-Hammett principle; kinetic vs thermodynamic control; isotope effects.
Stereochemistry: Chirality – point, axial, planar and helical; conformational analysis of acyclic, cyclic and fused systems; topicity; prostereoisomerism; asymmetric synthesis; Cram, Felkin-Anh and Zimmerman-Traxler models; stereospecific and stereoselective synthesis; absolute configuration (R and S); geometrical isomerism.
Reaction Mechanisms: Reactive intermediates – carbocations, carbanions, radicals, carbenes, nitrenes and arynes; SN1, SN2, SNi; neighbouring group participation; E1, E2 and E1cB eliminations; electrophilic and nucleophilic aromatic substitution; radical reactions; rearrangements; photochemistry; click reactions.
Pericyclic Reactions: Woodward-Hoffmann rules; electrocyclic reactions; cycloaddition; sigmatropic rearrangements; frontier molecular orbital approach.
Organic Synthesis & Named Reactions: C–C bond formation reactions; Aldol; Claisen; Wittig; Michael; Mannich; Reformatsky etc.; protecting groups; functional group interconversion; retrosynthetic analysis and multistep synthesis.
Organolithium and Grignard reagents; cross-coupling reactions – Suzuki, Heck and Stille.
Heterocyclic Chemistry: Pyrrole; furan; thiophene; pyridine; quinoline; indole systems.
Natural Products & Biomolecules: Terpenoids; steroids; alkaloids; carbohydrates; amino acids; peptides.
Industrial & Applied Organic Chemistry: Petrochemicals; polymers; medicinal chemistry basics; green chemistry principles and basic aspects.