Transition Metal Chemistry
d orbital splitting in a typical transition metal atom
Sc 4s 2 d 1 Ti 4s 2 d 2 V 4s 2 d 3 Cr 4s 1 d 5 Mn 4s 2 d 5 Fe 4s 2 d 6 Co 4s 2 d 7 Ni 4s 2 d 8 Cu 4s 1 d 10 Zn 4s 2 d 10
d orbital splitting in a typical transition metal atom
The 4s an 4p orbitals is much more diffuse in space than are the 3d orbitals. They have a higher quantum number n and the have fewer nodes (0 or 1) versus 2 for the d orbitals. This means that when a transition metal atom bonds to other atoms, the most significant interactions are with the s and p orbitals, not the d orbitals.
The 3d orbitals are not as important for bonding as are the 4s and 4p, but the details of what happens to the 3d orbitals determine the properties of transition metal complexes. 3d
Coordination Compounds Co(NH 3 ) 6 +3 NH 3 Base - electron pair donor Ligand
Co(en) 3 +3 Ethylenediamine 1,2-diaminoethaneChelate Bidentate Ligand
Common Ligands NH 3 ammine H 2 Oaqua OH - hydroxo CN - cyano COcarbonyl NO 2 - nitro F - fluoro Cl - chloro Br - bromo I - iodo
Square Planar Complexes trans cis
Octahedral Complexes cis trans
facialmeridial
Tetrahedral complexes
Optical Isomerism
Porphyrin
Protoporphyrin IX