ISC Chemistry Class 12 Syllabus 2025
Theory paper is of 3 hours duration and 70 marks. There are ten units in the syllabus divided into three parts: (A) Physical Chemistry - 25 marks (B) Inorganic Chemistry - 14 marks (C) Organic Chemistry - 31 marks.
1. Solutions
Study of concentration of solutions of solids in liquids, liquid in liquid, solubility of gases in liquids, solid solutions, Colligative properties - Raoult's law of relative lowering of vapour pressure (1st & 2nd), elevation of boiling point, depression of freezing point, osmotic pressure.
Use of colligative properties in determining molecular masses of solutes, abnormal molecular mass association and dissociation, van't Hoff factor.
2. Electrochemistry
Electrolytic and electrochemical cells. Redox reactions in electrochemical cells. Electromotive Force (emf) of a cell, standard electrode potential, Nernst equation and its application to chemical cells. Relation between Gibbs energy change and emf of a cell.
Conductance in electrolytic solutions, specific, equivalent and molar conductivity, variations of conductivity with concentration, graphs; Kohlrausch's Law of electrolysis and Faraday’s Laws of electrolysis. Dry cell and lead accumulator, fuel cells, corrosion.
3. Chemical Kinetics
Meaning of Chemical Kinetics - slow and fast reactions. Rate of a reaction - average and instantaneous rate (graphical representation). Factors affecting rate of reaction: surface area, nature of reactants, concentration, temperature, catalyst and radiation. Order and molecularity of a reaction, rate law and specific rate constant.
Integrated rate equations and half-life (only for zero and first order reactions), concept of collision theory (elementary idea, no mathematical treatment). Concept of threshold and activation energy, Arrhenious equation.
4. d and f Block Elements
Position in the periodic table, occurrence, electronic configuration and characteristics of transition metals, general trends in properties of the 3d-series of transition metals - metallic character, ionisation enthalpy, oxidation states, ionic radii, colour of ions, catalytic property, magnetic properties, interstitial compounds, alloy formation, preparation and properties of K2Cr2O7 and KMnO4.
Lanthanoids and actinoids.
5. Coordination Compounds
Concept of complexes, definition of ligands, coordination number, oxidation number. IUPAC nomenclature of mononuclear coordination compounds. Isomerism (structural and stereo).
Bonding, Werner's theory, VBT and CFT. Colour, magnetic properties and shapes. Importance of coordination compounds (in qualitative analysis, extraction of metals and biological system).
6. Haloalkanes and Haloarenes
Haloalkanes: General formula, nomenclature and classification. Nature of C-X bond, physical and chemical properties, mechanism of substitution reactions, optical rotation.
Haloarenes: Basic idea, nature of C-X bond, substitution reactions (directive influence of halogen in monosubstituted compounds only).
Uses and environmental effects of - dichloromethane, trichloromethane, tetrachloromethane, iodoform, freons and DDT.
7. Alcohols, Phenols and Ethers
Alcohols: Classification, general formula, structure and nomenclature. Methods of preparation, physical and chemical properties (of primary alcohols only), identification of primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols, mechanism of dehydration, uses with special reference to methanol and ethanol.
Phenols: Classification and nomenclature. Methods of preparation, physical and chemical properties, acidic nature of phenol, electrophilic substitution reactions, uses of phenols.
Aliphatic Ethers: General formula, structure and nomenclature. Methods of preparation, physical and chemical properties, uses.
8. Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids
Aldehydes and Ketones: Nomenclature, structure of methods of preparation of aldehydes and ketones, physical and chemical properties, mechanism of nucleophilic addition, reactivity of alpha hydrogen in aldehydes and uses.
Carboxylic Acids: Classification, general formula and structure of carboxylic group. Nomenclature, acidic nature, methods of preparation, physical and chemical properties and uses.
9. Organic compounds containing Nitrogen
Aliphatic Amines: General formula and, classification of amines. Structure of the amino group, nomenclature. Methods of preparation, physical and chemical properties, uses, identification of primary, secondary and tertiary amines.
Diazonium salts: Preparation, chemical reactions and importance in synthetic organic chemistry.
10. Biomolecules
Carbohydrates: definition, classification - mono (aldose, ketose), oligo (di, tri, tetra saccharides) and polysaccharides with examples: reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars - examples and uses.
Proteins: structural units of proteins. Basic idea of - amino acids, peptide bond, polypeptides, proteins, structure of proteins - primary, secondary, tertiary structure and quaternary structures (qualitative idea only), denaturation of proteins. Enzymes, hormones - elementary idea only.
Vitamins - Classification and functions.
Nucleic Acids - DNA and RNA.