Content Curator | Updated On - Aug 26, 2024
IIT Roorkee has released the official syllabus of GATE 2025 Chemistry (CY) on iitr.ac.in/gate/. The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) Chemistry 2025 syllabus is mainly divided into three sections Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry. The paper consists of three types of questions asked in the DA Paper: multiple-choice questions (MCQs), multiple-select questions (MSQs), and numerical answer type (NAT) questions.
| Syllabus | |
|---|---|
| Chemistry Syllabus | Download PDF |
| General Aptitude Syllabus | Download PDF |
Section-wise GATE Chemistry Syllabus 2025
The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) Chemistry 2025 syllabus is mainly divided into three sections Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry.
Physical Chemistry
Physical Chemistry mainly include topics like Spectroscopy, Kinetics, Equilibrium, Surface and Interfaces, Structure, and Group Theory. Detailed subtopics of these topics are mentioned below.
| TOPICS | SUB-TOPICS |
|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | Postulates of quantum mechanics. Operators. Time dependent and time independent Schrodinger equations. Born interpretation, etc. |
| GROUP THEORY | Symmetry elements and operations; Point groups and character tables; Internal coordinates and vibrational modes; etc. |
| SPECTROSCOPY | Atomic spectroscopy; Russell-Saunders coupling; Term symbols and spectral details; origin of selection rules, etc. |
| EQUILIBRIUM | Laws of thermodynamics. Standard states. Thermochemistry. Thermodynamic functions and their relationships: Gibbs-Helmholtz and Maxwell relations, Gibbs-Duhem equation, van’t Hoff equation, etc. |
| KINETICS | Elementary, parallel, opposing and consecutive reactions. Steady state approximation. Mechanisms of complex reaction, etc. |
| SURFACES AND INTERFACES | Physisorption and chemisorption. Langmuir, Freundlich and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) isotherms, etc. |
Inorganic Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry include topics like Organometallics, Radioactivity, Lanthanides and Actinides, Bioinorganic Chemistry, Transition Elements, Main Group Elements, Solids, and Instrumental Methods of Analysis.
| TOPICS | SUB-TOPICS |
|---|---|
| MAIN GROUP ELEMENTS | Hydrides, halides, oxides, oxoacids, nitrides, sulfides – shapes and reactivity. Structure and bonding of boranes, carboranes, silicones, silicates, boron nitride, etc. |
| TRANSITION ELEMENTS | Coordination chemistry – structure and isomerism, theories of bonding (VBT, CFT, and MOT). Energy level diagrams in various crystal fields, CFSE, applications of CFT, etc. |
| LANTHANIDES AND ACTINIDES | Recovery. Periodic properties, spectra and magnetic properties. |
| ORGANOMETALLICS | 18-Electron rule; metal-alkyl, metal-carbonyl, metal-olefin and metal- carbene complexes and metallocenes, etc. |
| RADIOACTIVITY | Detection of radioactivity, Decay processes, half-life of radioactive elements, fission and fusion processes. |
| BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY | : Ion (Na+ and K+ ) transport, oxygen binding, transport and utilization, electron transfer reactions, nitrogen fixation, etc. |
| SOLIDS | Crystal systems and lattices, Miller planes, crystal packing, crystal defects, Bragg’s law, ionic crystals, structures of AX, AX2, ABX3 type compounds, etc. |
| INSTRUMENTAL METHODS OF ANALYSIS | UV-visible, fluorescence and FTIR spectrophotometry, NMR and ESR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, etc. |
Organic Chemistry
Organic Chemistry include topics like Pericyclic Reactions and Photochemistry, Heterocyclic Compounds, Biomolecules, Organic Synthesis, Reaction Mechanisms, Stereochemistry, and Experimental techniques in organic chemistry.
| TOPICS | SUB-TOPICS |
|---|---|
| STEREOCHEMISTRY | Chirality and symmetry of organic molecules with or without chiral centres and determination of their absolute configurations, etc. |
| REACTION MECHANISM | Basic mechanistic concepts – kinetic versus thermodynamic control, Hammond’s postulate and Curtin-Hammett principle, etc. |
| ORGANIC SYNTHESIS | Synthesis, reactions, mechanisms and selectivity involving the following classes of compounds – alkenes, alkynes, arenes, alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, etc. |
| PERICYCLIC REACTION AND PHOTOCHEMISTRY | : Electrocyclic, cycloaddition and sigmatropic reactions. Orbital correlations - FMO and PMO treatments, etc.. |
| HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS | Structure, preparation, properties and reactions of furan, pyrrole, thiophene, pyridine, indole, quinoline and isoquinoline. |
| BIOMOLECULES | Structure, properties and reactions of mono- and di-saccharides, physicochemical properties of amino acids, etc. |
| EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | Optical rotation (polarimetry). Applications of various chromatographic techniques such as thin-layer, column, HPLC and GC, etc. |
GATE Chemistry Exam Pattern 2025
| SECTION | QUESTION TYPE | NO. OF QUESTION | MARKS | EXAM DURATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GENERAL APTITUDE | MCQ | 10 | 15 | 3 HOURS |
| CHEMISTRY | MCQ, MSQ, OR NAT | 55 | 85 | |
| TOTAL | 65 | 100 | ||
Topic Wise Distribution
| Topics | No. Of Questions (Expected) |
|---|---|
| Chemical Equilibrium | 4 |
| Experimentation Techniques in Organic Chemistry | 2 |
| Biomolecules | 2 |
| Organics Synthesis | 5 |
| Stereochemistry | 4 |
| Transitional Elements | 3 |
| Group Theory | 3 |
| Chemical Kinetics | 5 |
| Reaction Mechanisms | 5 |
| Spectroscopy | 2 |
| Main Group Elements | 4 |
| Organometallics | 3 |
| Structure | 3 |
| Spectroscopy | 2 |
| Solids | 2 |
| Radioactivity | 2 |
| Heterocyclic Compounds: | 2 |
| Pericyclic Reactions and Photochemistry | 2 |
Books To Refer For Chemistry
| BOOKS | AUTHOR/PUBLISHER |
|---|---|
| GATE Chemistry: Previous Years’ Solved Papers (Latest Edition) | Atlantic Research Division |
| Chapter-wise Solved Papers (2000-2021) | Dr. Sanjay Saxena & Preeti Gupta |
| 2000+ Physical Chemistry MCQs Questions & Answers for CSIR NET, GATE, BARC & SET | Rajiv Abhyankar |
| UGC CSIR NET/SET IIT GATE CHEMICAL SCIENCES | Subrata Sengupta , and Dipendu Patra |
| Concept Check in Organic Chemistry | Avinash More |
| Success Guide to Inorganic Chemistry | Tauheed Nadeem |
| Success Guide to Organic Chemistry | Tauheed Nadeem |
| Chapter-wise Solved Papers Chemistry GATE 2022 | Sanjay Saxena & Preeti Gupta |
| GATE 2022: Chemistry Year-wise Previous Solved Papers 2000-2019 | GKP |
| GATE Chemistry Solved Papers | Career Endeavour Publications |
| Wiley’s Gate Chemistry Chapter Wise Solved papers | Wiley Editorial |
Books To Refer For General Aptitude
| NAME OF BOOKS | AUTHOR |
|---|---|
| A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning | R.S Aggarwal |
| How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude | Arun Sharma |
| High School English Grammar | Wren and Martin |
| Reasoning and Aptitude | Nem Singh |
| Acing the GATE: Engineering Mathematics and General Aptitude | by Anil Kumar Main |
| Aptitude & Reasoning for GATE 2021 and ESE 2021 (Prelims) – Theory, Practices Questions and Previous Year Solved Papers | Hemant Jain |
| GATE 2021 – Guide – General Aptitude | GKP |
| GATE General Aptitude & Engineering Mathematics | Trishna |
GATE Chemistry Previous Year Question Papers
| Session | |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Download Question Paper |
| 2023 | Download Question Paper |
| 2022 | Download Question Paper |
| 2021 | Download Question Paper |
| 2020 | Download Question Paper |
Frequently Asked Questions
Ques. What are the eligibility criteria for attempting the GATE Chemistry Exam?
Ans. Candidates must hold a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or a Master's Degree in a relevant field.
Ques. Which are the subjects in GATE Chemistry?
Ans. Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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