IIT Bombay will conduct the Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM) 2026 for admission to postgraduate courses offered by IITs, NITs, IISER Pune, IISER Bhopal and some other reputed institutes. These postgraduate courses are available in Physics, Chemistry, Biotechnology, Economics, Geology, Mathematics, and Mathematical Statistics. The JAM 2026 aspirants who are going to take the Chemistry test can check IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry Syllabus here. This will allow them to identify the important exam topics and manage your test preparation accordingly. Read this SciAstra article to check all the important details about the JAM 2026 Chemistry syllabus. It covers important topics for the syllabus and preparation tips for the IIT JAM Chemistry exam.
Also Read: IIT JAM 2026 Mathematics Syllabus
IIT JAM 2026 Exam Pattern
The objective of the JAM 2026 exam pattern is to provide an overview of the structure of the IIT JAM 2026 question paper. It outlines the number and types of questions, the marking scheme, the exam mode, and other key details. Check out the exam pattern for IIT JAM 2026 below:
| Section | Question Type | Details | Question Numbers |
| Section A | Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) | Only one correct option out of four choices | Q.1 – Q.10, Q.11 – Q.30 |
| Section B | Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) | One or more correct choices | Q.31 – Q.40 |
| Section C | Numerical Answer Type (NAT) | Real number entered via virtual keyboard, no choices provided | Q.41 – Q.50, Q.51 – Q.60 |
Aslo Read: IIT JAM 2026 Biotechnology Syllabus
IIT JAM 2026 Marking Scheme:
| Section | Marks per Question | Number of Questions | Total Marks | Marking Scheme |
| Section A |
|
|
|
Negative marking: -1/3 mark for 1-mark questions, -2/3 mark for 2-mark questions |
| Section B |
|
|
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No negative or partial marking |
| Section C |
|
|
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No negative marking |
- Total Questions: 60
- Total Marks: 100
Also Read: Documents Required to Fill Out IIT JAM Application Form
IIT JAM 2026: Chemistry Courses
IITs are offering postgraduate Chemistry courses through the IIT JAM 2026 exam. Check out the complete list of these courses below:
| IIT | Offered Chemistry Course |
| IIT Bhilai | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Bhubaneswar | Joint MSc PhD in Chemistry |
| IIT Bombay | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Bombay | MSc PhD Dual Degree in Energy Science and Engineering |
| IIT Bombay | MSc PhD Dual Degree in Environmental Science and Engineering |
| IIT Delhi | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Delhi | MSc in Biological Sciences |
| IIT Dhanbad (ISM) | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Dharwad | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Gandhinagar | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Guwahati | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Hyderabad | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Indore | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Jammu | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Jodhpur | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Jodhpur | MSc MTech Dual Degree in Chemistry and Materials Engineering |
| IIT Kanpur | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Kanpur | MSc PhD Dual Degree in Chemistry |
| IIT Kharagpur | Joint MSc PhD in Chemistry |
| IIT Madras | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Mandi | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Palakkad | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Patna | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Patna | Integrated MSc PhD Dual Degree in Chemistry |
| IIT Roorkee | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Ropar | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT Tirupati | MSc in Chemistry |
| IIT BHU Varanasi | MSc in Chemistry |
Also Read:
IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry Syllabus
The IIT JAM 2026 exam will be held on February 15, 2026, in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode. If you are preparing for admission to a postgraduate Chemistry course, you must go through the exam syllabus for the subject thoroughly. This will help you identify the important topics and manage your preparation accordingly.
The IIT JAM Chemistry Syllabus has four sections: Basic Mathematical Concepts, Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry. The topics and subtopics included in these sections are as follows:
| Section | Topic | Subtopics |
| Section 1: Basic Mathematical Concepts (10+2 Level) | Functions, maxima and minima, integrals, ordinary differential equations, vectors and matrices, determinants, elementary statistics | – |
| Section 2: Physical Chemistry | Atomic and Molecular Structure | Planck’s black body radiation; Photoelectric effect; Bohr’s theory, de Broglie postulate, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle Schrödinger’s wave equation (mathematical treatment); Postulates of quantum mechanics; Normalized and orthogonal wave functions; Complex conjugate; Significance of Ψ²; Operators; Particle in 1D box; Radial and angular wave functions for hydrogen atom; Radial probability distribution; Finding maxima of distribution functions; Energy spectrum of hydrogen atom; Shapes of s, p, d, f orbitals; Pauli’s Exclusion Principle; Hund’s rule of maximum multiplicity |
| Gaseous State | Kinetic molecular model of a gas; Collision frequency; Collision diameter; Mean free path; Viscosity of gases; Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution; Molecular velocities; Law of equipartition of energy; Heat capacities; Ideal gases; Deviations from ideal gas behaviour; van der Waals equation; Critical state; Law of corresponding states | |
| Liquid State | Physical properties of liquids; Vapour pressure; Surface tension; Coefficient of viscosity; Effect of solutes on surface tension and viscosity; Effect of temperature on viscosity | |
| Solid State | Unit cells; Miller indices; Crystal systems; Bravais lattices; Vectors in crystal systems; X-ray diffraction; Bragg’s Law; Structures of NaCl, CsCl, KCl, diamond, graphite; Close packing in metals; Semiconductors, insulators; Defects in crystals; Lattice energy; Isomorphism; Heat capacity of solids | |
| Chemical Thermodynamics | Exact/in-exact differentials; Partial derivatives; Euler’s reciprocity; Cyclic rule; Reversible/irreversible processes; Laws of thermodynamics; Thermochemistry; Enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy (properties & applications); Partial molar quantities; Gibbs-Duhem equation; Chemical potential & applications | |
| Chemical and Phase Equilibria | Law of mass action; Kp, Kc, Kx, Kn; Effect of temperature; Le-Chatelier principle; Ionic equilibria; pH, buffer solutions; Salt hydrolysis; Solubility & solubility product; Acid–base titration curves; Indicators; Dilute solutions; Raoult’s Law; Henry’s Law; Colligative properties; Gibbs phase rule; Phase equilibria (1- and 2-component diagrams) | |
| Electrochemistry | Conductivity, equivalent & molar conductivity; Kohlrausch law; Debye-Hückel-Onsager equation; Ionic velocities, mobilities, transference numbers; Conductance measurement applications; Faraday’s laws; Applications in metallurgy & industry; EMF of a cell; Nernst equation; Standard electrode potential; Electrochemical series; Concentration cells (with/without transference); Potentiometric titrations | |
| Chemical Kinetics | Order & molecularity; Differential & integrated rate laws; Opposing, parallel & consecutive reactions; Steady state approximation; Chain reactions; Lindemann mechanism; Arrhenius equation; Activation energy; Collision theory; Catalysts (types, specificity, selectivity); Solid surface catalysis; Enzyme catalysis (Michaelis-Menten, double reciprocal plot); Acid-base catalysis | |
| Adsorption | Gibbs adsorption equation; Adsorption isotherms; Types of adsorption; Surface area of adsorbents; Surface films on liquids | |
| Spectroscopy | Beer-Lambert’s law; Rotational, vibrational, electronic, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy | |
| Section 3: Organic Chemistry | Basic Concepts in Organic Chemistry and Stereochemistry | Electronic effects (resonance, inductive, hyperconjugation); Steric effects; Optical isomerism (with/without stereocenters – allenes, biphenyls); Conformations of acyclic (ethane, propane, butane) and cyclic (cyclohexane, decalins) systems |
| Organic Reaction Mechanism and Synthetic Applications | Reactive intermediates (carbocations, carbanions, free radicals, carbenes, nitrenes, benzynes); Substitution/elimination mechanisms; Hofmann-Curtius-Lossen, Wolff, Simmons-Smith, Reimer-Tiemann, Michael, Darzens, Wittig, McMurry reactions; Pinacol-pinacolone, Favorskii, benzilic acid, Baeyer-Villiger rearrangements; Oxidation/reduction; Organometallic reagents (Grignard, organolithium, organocopper, organozinc/Reformatsky); Pericyclic reactions (Diels-Alder, electrocyclic, sigmatropic); Functional group interconversions; Structural problems | |
| Qualitative Organic Analysis | Functional group tests; UV, IR, ¹H NMR spectroscopy for simple molecules | |
| Natural Products Chemistry | Alkaloids; Steroids; Terpenes; Carbohydrates; Amino acids; Peptides; Nucleic acids | |
| Aromatic and Heterocyclic Chemistry | Aromatic hydrocarbons (mono, bi, tri-cyclic); Monocyclic heteroatom compounds; Aromaticity; Electrophilic & nucleophilic substitution | |
| Section 4: Inorganic Chemistry | Periodic Table | Periodic classification; Aufbau principle; Orbital energy variation; Effective nuclear charge; Atomic, covalent, ionic radii; Ionization enthalpy; Electron gain enthalpy; Electronegativity trends; Electronic configuration (diatomics, first & second row elements) |
| Extraction of Metals | Isolation & purification of elements; Ellingham diagram | |
| Chemical Bonding and Shapes of Molecules | Ionic bond: packing, radius ratio rule, Born-Landé equation, Kapustinskii expression, Madelung constant, Born-Haber cycle, solvation, Fajan’s rules; Covalent bond: Lewis structure, VB theory, Hybridization, MO theory, MO diagrams; Bonding (σ, π), bond lengths; Intermolecular forces (vdW, dipole-dipole, induced dipole, H-bonding); VSEPR theory; Ionic solids | |
| Main Group Elements (s and p blocks) | Reactions of alkali/alkaline earth metals; Alkali metals in liquid ammonia; Gradation in properties; Inert pair effect; Diborane, ammonia, silane, phosphine, H₂S; Allotropes of carbon; Oxides & oxoacids (N, P, S, Cl); Halides of Si, P; Borazine, silicone, phosphazene; Xenon fluorides | |
| Transition Metals (d block) | Characteristics; Oxides, hydroxides & salts (first row); Coordination complexes: structure, isomerism, spectra, VB/MO/CFT; Organometallics (carbonyls, nitrosyls, metallocenes); Homogeneous catalysis (Wilkinson’s catalyst) | |
| Bioinorganic Chemistry | Essential/trace elements; Role of metal ions (Fe²⁺, Zn²⁺); Structure & function of myoglobin, hemoglobin, carbonic anhydrase | |
| Instrumental Methods of Analysis | Principles, instrumentation, applications of conductometry, potentiometry, UV-Vis spectroscopy; Analysis of water, air, soil samples | |
| Analytical Chemistry | Qualitative & quantitative analysis; Acid-base, redox, complexometric titrations (EDTA); Precipitation reactions; Indicators; Organic reagents; Radioactivity; Nuclear reactions; Isotopes; Error analysis, statistics, probability |
Also Read:
IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry Syllabus PDF
IIT Bombay has released the IIT JAM 2026 official syllabus for Chemistry on the official JAM website – jam2026.iitb.ac.in. Candidates can also check the official syllabus PDF here:
| IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry Syllabus PDF (Official) | IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry Syllabus |
Best Books for IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry Preparation
The best books for the IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry paper preparation are listed below:
| Book Name | Author/Publisher |
| Physical Chemistry for Competitions | O.P. Tandon |
| Organic Chemistry | Morrison and Boyd |
| Concise Inorganic Chemistry | J.D. Lee |
| Numerical Chemistry | P. Bahadur |
| Physical Chemistry | P.W. Atkins |
| IIT JAM Chemistry Solved Papers | Arihant Experts |
| IIT JAM Chemistry Previous Years’ Papers | MTG Editorial Board |
| IIT JAM Chemistry Study Guide | Wiley Editorial |
| General Chemistry | Ebbing and Gammon |
| Organic Chemistry | Solomons and Fryhle |
IIT JAM 2026 Preparation Tips for Chemistry
To score well in the IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry exam, candidates can use the following tips:
- Go through the official exam syllabus and prepare accordingly.
- Practice questions which are available in the IIT JAM books for Chemistry.
- Solve previous years’ question papers.
- Take mock tests to evaluate your preparation level.
Conclusion
The IIT JAM 2026 Chemistry exam offers aspirants a gateway to prestigious postgraduate programmes at IITs and other top institutes. With a clear understanding of the syllabus, the right set of books, consistent practice, and mock tests, candidates can strengthen their preparation and improve their chances of success.
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