JEE Advanced Chemistry: Syllabus, Topics & Sample Practice

Physical Chemistry

• Ch 1 General Topics

  Atoms and molecules, Dalton’s atomic theory, mole concept, chemical formulae, balanced equations; calculations based on mole concept and stoichiometry (oxidation–reduction, neutralisation, displacement); concentration as mole fraction, molarity, molality and normality.

• Ch 2 States of Matter: Gases and Liquids

  Gas laws and ideal gas equation, absolute temperature; deviation from ideality and van der Waals equation; kinetic theory, average/rms/most-probable velocities; partial pressures; diffusion; intermolecular interactions; liquids — vapour pressure, surface tension, viscosity.

• Ch 3 Atomic Structure

  Bohr model and hydrogen spectrum; wave–particle duality, de Broglie hypothesis; uncertainty principle; quantum-mechanical picture of the hydrogen atom (energies, quantum numbers, wave function, probability density plots, shapes of s, p and d orbitals); Aufbau principle, Pauli exclusion principle and Hund’s rule.

• Ch 4 Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure

  Orbital overlap and covalent bond; hybridisation (s, p, d); molecular orbital diagrams for homonuclear diatomics up to Ne₂; hydrogen bond; polarity and dipole moment; VSEPR model and molecular shapes.

• Ch 5 Chemical Thermodynamics

  Intensive/extensive properties, state functions; first law, internal energy, work and heat; enthalpy, heat capacity, Hess’s law; enthalpies of reaction, fusion, vaporisation and lattice; second law, entropy, Gibbs energy; criteria of equilibrium and spontaneity.

• Ch 6 Chemical and Ionic Equilibrium

  Law of mass action; significance of ΔG and ΔG°; equilibrium constant (Kp, Kc) and reaction quotient; Le Chatelier’s principle; solubility product, common-ion effect, pH and buffers; acids and bases (Brønsted and Lewis); hydrolysis of salts.

• Ch 7 Electrochemistry

  Electrochemical cells and reactions; standard electrode potentials; Nernst equation, electrochemical work; electrochemical series, emf of galvanic cells; Faraday’s laws; conductance (specific, equivalent, molar), Kohlrausch’s law; batteries, fuel cells, corrosion.

• Ch 8 Chemical Kinetics

  Rates of reaction; order and molecularity; rate law, rate constant, half-life; differential and integrated rate expressions (zero and first order); Arrhenius equation and activation energy; catalysis (homogeneous, heterogeneous, enzyme).

• Ch 9 Solid State

  Classification of solids; crystalline state and seven crystal systems; close-packed structures (cubic, hexagonal); packing in fcc, bcc and hcp; nearest neighbours, ionic radii and radius ratio; point defects.

• Ch 10 Solutions

  Henry’s law; Raoult’s law and ideal solutions; colligative properties — lowering of vapour pressure, elevation of boiling point, depression of freezing point, osmotic pressure; van’t Hoff factor.

• Ch 11 Surface Chemistry

  Adsorption (physisorption and chemisorption), Freundlich isotherm; colloids — types, preparation and properties; emulsions, surfactants and micelles (definitions and examples).

Inorganic Chemistry

• Ch 12 Classification of Elements and Periodicity in Properties

  Modern periodic law and the periodic table; electronic configuration; periodic trends in atomic and ionic radius, ionization enthalpy, electron gain enthalpy, valence, oxidation states, electronegativity and reactivity.

• Ch 13 Hydrogen

  Position in the periodic table, occurrence, isotopes, preparation, properties and uses; hydrides (ionic, covalent, interstitial); water and heavy water; hydrogen peroxide (preparation, reactions, use, structure); hydrogen as a fuel.

• Ch 14 s-Block Elements

  Alkali and alkaline earth metals — reactivity, reducing nature, solutions in liquid ammonia, uses; oxides, hydroxides, halides and oxoacid salts; anomalous behaviour of lithium and beryllium; compounds of sodium and calcium.

• Ch 15 p-Block Elements

  Oxidation states and reactivity trends across groups 13–17; anomalous properties of B, C, N, O and F; group-wise preparation, properties and uses (borax, diborane, silicones, ammonia, nitric acid, ozone, sulfuric acid, chlorine, interhalogens, oxoacids); Group 18 chemistry and xenon compounds.

• Ch 16 d-Block Elements

  Oxidation states and stability; standard electrode potentials; interstitial compounds, alloys, catalytic properties; preparation, structure and reactions of oxoanions of chromium and manganese.

• Ch 17 f-Block Elements

  Lanthanoid and actinoid contractions; oxidation states; general characteristics.

• Ch 18 Coordination Compounds

  Werner’s theory; nomenclature, cis–trans and ionization isomerism; hybridization and geometries; bonding (VBT and CFT for octahedral and tetrahedral fields); magnetic properties and colour of 3d coordination compounds; spectrochemical series; stability, applications, metal carbonyls.

• Ch 19 Isolation of Metals

  Metal ores and concentration; extraction of crude metal — thermodynamic (iron, copper, zinc) and electrochemical (aluminium) principles; cyanide process (silver, gold); refining.

• Ch 20 Principles of Qualitative Analysis

  Cation groups I–V (Ag⁺, Hg²⁺, Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺, Al³⁺, Ca²⁺, Ba²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺, Mg²⁺); anions — nitrate, halides (excluding fluoride), carbonate and bicarbonate, sulphate and sulphide.

• Ch 21 Environmental Chemistry

  Atmospheric, water and soil pollution; industrial waste; strategies to control pollution; green chemistry.

Organic Chemistry

• Ch 22 Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry

  Hybridisation of carbon, σ and π bonds, shapes of molecules, aromaticity; structural, geometrical and stereoisomerism (up to two asymmetric centres); empirical/molecular formulae by combustion; IUPAC nomenclature; inductive, resonance and hyperconjugative effects; acidity and basicity; carbocations, carbanions and free radicals.

• Ch 23 Alkanes

  Homologous series; physical properties and effect of branching; conformations of ethane and butane (Newman projections); preparation from alkyl halides and carboxylic acids; combustion, halogenation (incl. allylic and benzylic) and oxidation.

• Ch 24 Alkenes and Alkynes

  Physical properties; preparation by elimination; acid-catalysed hydration; metal acetylides; reactions with KMnO₄ and ozone; reduction; electrophilic addition (X₂, HX, HOX) and peroxide effect; cyclic polymerization of alkynes.

• Ch 25 Benzene

  Structure; electrophilic substitution (halogenation, nitration, sulphonation, Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation); effect of directing groups in monosubstituted benzene.

• Ch 26 Phenols

  Physical properties; preparation; electrophilic substitution; Reimer-Tiemann and Kolbe reactions; esterification, etherification; aspirin synthesis; oxidation and reduction.

• Ch 27 Alkyl Halides

  Rearrangement of alkyl carbocations; Grignard reactions; nucleophilic substitution and its stereochemistry.

• Ch 28 Alcohols

  Physical properties; esterification, dehydration (alkenes and ethers); reactions with sodium, phosphorus halides, ZnCl₂/conc. HCl, thionyl chloride; conversion to aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acids.

• Ch 29 Ethers

  Preparation by Williamson’s synthesis; C–O bond cleavage reactions.

• Ch 30 Aldehydes and Ketones

  Preparation from acid chlorides, nitriles and esters; benzaldehyde from toluene/benzene; oxidation, reduction, oxime and hydrazone formation; aldol condensation, Cannizzaro, haloform; nucleophilic addition with RMgX, NaHSO₃, HCN, alcohol, amine.

• Ch 31 Carboxylic Acids

  Physical properties; preparation from nitriles, Grignard reagents, hydrolysis of esters and amides; benzoic acid from alkylbenzenes; reduction, halogenation, formation of esters, acid chlorides and amides.

• Ch 32 Amines

  Preparation from nitro compounds, nitriles and amides; Hoffmann bromamide degradation, Gabriel synthesis; reaction with nitrous acid; azo coupling, Sandmeyer and related diazonium reactions; carbylamine reaction, Hinsberg test, alkylation and acylation.

• Ch 33 Haloarenes

  Fittig and Wurtz-Fittig reactions; nucleophilic aromatic substitution in haloarenes (excluding benzyne mechanism and cine substitution).

• Ch 34 Biomolecules

  Carbohydrates (classification, mono- and di-saccharides, oxidation, reduction, glycoside formation, anomers); proteins (amino acids, peptide linkage, peptide structure, fibrous and globular); nucleic acids (DNA and RNA composition and structure).

• Ch 35 Polymers

  Addition and condensation polymerization; homo- and copolymers; natural rubber, cellulose, nylon, Teflon, Bakelite, PVC; biodegradable polymers; applications.

• Ch 36 Chemistry in Everyday Life

  Drug–target interaction; therapeutic action and examples of antacids, antihistamines, tranquilizers, analgesics, antimicrobials and antifertility drugs; artificial sweeteners; soaps, detergents and cleansing action.

• Ch 37 Practical Organic Chemistry

  Detection of elements (N, S, halogens); detection of functional groups — hydroxyl (alcoholic and phenolic), carbonyl (aldehyde and ketone), carboxyl, amino and nitro.

Point to the Method

Names the tool to reach for (e.g. "Use moles = mass ÷ molar mass") without giving the answer.

Guided Reasoning Prompt

Prompts the key step (e.g. "What is the molar mass of CH₄?").

Complete Worked Solution

Shows the full step-by-step working and explains why the answer is correct.

Balance All Three Branches

Physical, Inorganic and Organic each carry weight — keep all three moving rather than over-investing in one.

Learn Organic by Mechanism

Group reactions by mechanism (substitution, addition, elimination) so new named reactions slot into patterns you already know.

Anchor Inorganic to Periodicity

Most s-, p-, d- and f-block trends follow from periodicity — reason from trends rather than memorising every fact in isolation.

What are the three branches of the JEE Advanced Chemistry syllabus?

Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. The official Annexure-I syllabus lists units in that order — from the mole concept and thermodynamics, through periodicity and the s/p/d/f-block elements, to organic reactions, biomolecules and polymers.

Is Chemistry tested in both JEE Advanced papers?

Yes. Each of the two papers (Paper 1 and Paper 2) has a separate Chemistry section, alongside Physics and Mathematics, and appearing in both papers is compulsory.

What is the marking scheme for the Chemistry section?

The official brochure states that negative marks may be awarded for incorrect answers on some questions and that the detailed marking scheme and question types are given in the exam-day “Instructions to Candidates”. These are set each year, so confirm the current scheme on the official JEE Advanced website.