APPSC Assistant Chemical Examiner 2026: Official 300-Mark CBRT, Chemistry and Pharmacy Syllabus

Notification 35/2026 | Annexure in the 13-page official brief, pages 3–9 | Exam date not declared.

This is the announced single-level online Computer Based Recruitment Test for the Assistant Chemical Examiner in A.P. Prohibition and Excise Subordinate Service. APPSC expressly rules out an extra Screening Test irrespective of the number of applications. The test includes a common General Studies & Mental Ability paper, plus Chemistry OR Pharmacy, not both technical syllabuses as two compulsory papers.

Official structure and negative marking

The Commission assigns a penalty equal to one-third of the marks of a wrong response. In the present 1-mark question scheme, each incorrect answer costs about 0.3333 marks. The supplied brief does not publish a distinct subject-wise minimum score, a sectional question distribution or an examination date. If multiple sessions are needed, APPSC may adopt score normalisation under its applicable methodology. These are conditional rules, not a claim that a multi-session exam has already taken place.

Paper-I — General Studies & Mental Ability: the official ten-theme syllabus

APPSC does not allocate a fixed 15 questions per theme; the table is a compact reorganisation of all ten printed topics rather than a self-invented blueprint. It is easy to overlook GIS/Remote Sensing, e-Governance and descriptive statistics when treating Paper-I as only conventional general knowledge.

Paper-II: choose the concerned subject actually applicable to the qualification

The notification's printed heading is “Concerned Subject (Chemistry or Pharmacy)”. Two full alternative outlines follow. The Commission does not announce a split of the nine vacancies between candidates who write Chemistry and those who write Pharmacy. It also gives no numeric chapter weightages for either syllabus.

Chemistry — Section A: Inorganic Chemistry

Atomic theory and periodic structure. Schrödinger wave equation, quantum numbers, radial/angular probabilities, orbital shapes and relative orbital energies, electronic configuration, Aufbau/Hund/Pauli rules. Across s-, p-, d- and f-blocks, study atomic and ionic radii, ionisation energy, electron affinity, electronegativity and the characteristic behaviour of each block.

Chemical bonds and molecular shape. Sigma and pi bonds, orbital overlap, ionic/covalent/metallic/hydrogen bonding, bond order/length, VSEPR geometry and hybridisation. Know how charge, orbital occupancy and electron-pair geometry shape molecules and ions.

Oxidation–reduction and acid/base theory. Oxidation number, standard redox balancing, Brønsted and Lewis models, hard–soft acid/base (HSAB) principle, substituent/solvent effect on acid or base strength. The syllabus expects both concepts and correctly balanced chemical equations.

Elemental and coordination chemistry. Hydrogen isotopes, heavy water and ortho/para forms; s/p-block compounds including borates, diborane, oxyacids, interhalogens, pseudohalogens and noble-gas compounds. d-block and lanthanide chemistry covers oxidation states, magnetism, colour and lanthanide contraction. Metal extraction is illustrated through sodium, magnesium, aluminium, iron, nickel, copper, silver and gold. Nuclear fission/fusion, isotopes and nuclear applications are included. Coordination nomenclature, isomerism and bonding theories occur alongside environmental pollution control.

Chemistry — Section B: Organic Chemistry

Structure and reactivity: electronegativity, inductive/mesomeric/hyperconjugative effects, polarisation, hydrogen bonding, bond cleavage, carbocations/carbanions/radicals/carbenes, electrophiles and nucleophiles. Understand how solvent and substituent effects influence mechanism and stability.

Aliphatic reactions and functional groups: hydrocarbons; free-radical halogenation and selectivity; addition to alkenes/alkynes; Markovnikov/peroxide effects; polymerisation; alkyl halides, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, esters, amides, nitriles, amines, anhydrides, ethers and nitro compounds. The listed functional families require reaction understanding rather than only memorising names.

Stereochemistry: chirality and symmetry; Fischer/Newman/sawhorse projections; optical and geometric isomerism; R/S, D/L, E/Z naming; enantiomers/diastereomers, erythro/threo, meso compounds, racemisation, conformations, and the stereochemistry of SN1/SN2/E1/E2 mechanisms.

Synthetic methods and biomolecules: organomagnesium and organolithium reagents, active methylene compounds (malonates/acetoacetates), tautomerism, Hückel aromaticity, aromatic substitutions and benzyne chemistry. Carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, essential fats/oils/soaps/detergents and spectroscopy (UV-visible, IR, NMR) are expressly included.

Chemistry — Section C: Physical Chemistry

Real gases and thermodynamics: van der Waals/Virial equations, critical constants, liquefaction, molecular velocities, collision frequency and mean free path. Zeroth/first/second-law applications, heat capacity, enthalpy, Joule–Thomson effect, entropy, spontaneity, free energies and the connection between equilibrium constants and thermodynamic quantities.

Phase equilibria and solutions: Clapeyron/Clausius–Clapeyron relations; Gibbs phase rule in one- and two-component systems; salt hydrates and water/sulphur examples; distribution law; partially miscible liquids; Henry's/Raoult's law and distillation. Colligative-property molecular-mass determinations are named examples of quantitative work.

Electrochemistry: electrolyte dissociation, buffer chemistry, titration indicators, conductance and concentration, Ostwald's dilution and Kohlrausch's law, transport number, Faraday's laws, galvanic cells, standard reduction potentials, Nernst equation, potentiometric titrations and fuel cells.

Chemical kinetics and interfaces: experimentally finding reaction order and rate constants, first-/second-order integrated rate laws, half-life, Arrhenius temperature dependence, photochemical quantum yield, homogeneous/heterogeneous/enzyme catalysis, colloid purification, coagulation, sols/gels, surfactants, emulsions and micelles.

Pharmacy — Part I: principles, regulation and analytical methods

Dispensing and pharmacy law: history and code of ethics; posology and pharmaceutical incompatibilities; dispensing of mixtures, emulsions, powders and suppositories. The notification lists the Pharmacy Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules and Drug Price Control Orders with amendments. These statutory names are official examination topics; a candidate should use current authenticated texts, not old legal summaries.

Biological products and pharmacognosy: sterilisation, sterility testing, vaccines/sera/antitoxins, manufacture of penicillin and streptomycin; crude-drug classification, adulteration and evaluation. The named materials include Senna, Digitalis, Ispaghula, Cinchona, Cinnamon, Rauwolfia, Podophyllum, Ergot, cod-liver oil and gelatin. Know their classification, characteristic constituents and methods of identification as preparation context, without assuming an APPSC question count for each.

Instrumental analysis: principles, instrumentation and applications of colorimetry, spectrophotometry, fluorimetry, gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The fact these analytical techniques are named makes them core preparation topics, not proof that the appointee's exact daily testing duties have been disclosed.

Pharmacy — Part II: pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry and pharmacology

Pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics: Newtonian/non-Newtonian rheology, colloids, interfaces, emulsions/suspensions, factors affecting drug absorption, dosage formulations, drug-release systems, quality-control methods for tablets, capsules, solutions, aerosols, creams, ointments and injectables.

Medicinal chemistry: structure–activity relationships and the synthesis/nomenclature/uses of sedatives, hypnotics, analgesics, antipyretics, anti-inflammatory compounds, diuretics, antihypertensives and chemotherapeutic agents. The official outline expressly links chemistry of a compound to its therapeutic use.

Pharmacology and interactions: local anaesthetics, diuretics, hormones, antihistamines, hyperglycaemic agents, central nervous system agents, adrenergic/cholinergic drugs and cardiovascular drugs; pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions, teratogenicity and drug-induced disorders. Understand that drug interaction terms represent different mechanisms: altered exposure versus altered response.

Exam discipline and common traps

Before applying: APPSC lists a full detailed notice for 35/2026 dated 6 November 2026. Consult that notice for the category roster, fee, age concessions, answer-key objection procedure and any subsequent selection details. A different APPSC recruitment may have different rules.