Development of the tools necessary to use the knowledge of structure and bonding of molecules and solids in the practice of synthetic inorganic and materials chemistry. Several bonding models are covered, from the simple valence bond and ligand field models to a quantitative group theoretical treatment of molecular orbital theory and band structure descriptions of solids. Concepts of electron counting and oxidation state and ligand characteristics are revisited in terms of the more sophisticated bonding models. Finally, these models are used to analyze the reactivity, magnetic and spectroscopic properties of inorganic coordination compounds. Prior advanced inorganic and/or advanced quantum chemistry courses are not prerequisites.