Transition Metals Flashcards
What is the d-block?
The block of elements in the middle of the periodic table.
Most of the elements in the d-block are transition elements.
TRANSITION METAL
A metal that can form one or more stable ions with a partially filled d-subshell.
How many electrons can the d-subshell fit?
10
What must transition metals form?
At least one ion that has between 1 and 9 electrons in the d-subshell.
What are the rules for writing the electron configurations of elements?
- Electrons fill up the lowest energy subshells first.
- Electrons fill orbitals singly before they start sharing.
- 4s subshell usually fills before 3d.
Why does the 4s subshell fill first?
It has a lower energy level than the 3d subshell.
What are the exceptions to the regular rules of electron configuration?
- Chromium prefers to have one electron in each orbital of the 3d subshell and just one in the 4s subshell- this gives more stability.
- Copper prefers to have a full 3d subshell and just one electron in the 4s subshell- more stable that way.
Why are scandium and zinc not transition metals?
Their stable ions don’t have partially filled d-subshells.
Scandium only forms Sc3+, which has an empty
d-subshell.
Electron config. [Ar] 3d1 4s2
so when it loses 3 electrons, it has the electron config [Ar].
Zinc only forms one ion, Zn2+, which has a full d-subshell. Zinc has the electron config. [Ar] 3d10 4s2.
When it forms Zn2+ it loses two electrons, both from the 4s subshell. Keeps full 3d subshell.
What kind of ions do transition metal atoms form?
positive ions
Where are the electrons removed from first when a transition ion is formed?
s electrons are removed first.
What are the physical properties of transition metals?
- All have a high density.
- They all have high melting and high boiling points.
- Their ironic radii are more or less the same.
What are the chemical properties of transition metals?
- They can form complex ions.
e. g. iron forms a complex ion with water [Fe(H2O)6]2+ - They form coloured ions.
e. g. Fe2+ ions are pale green and Fe3+ ions are yellow. - They’re good catalysts.
e. g. iron is the catalyst used in the Haber process.
-They can exist in variable oxidation states.
E.g. iron can exist in the +2 oxidation state as Fe2+ ions and in the +3 oxidation state as Fe3+ ions.
What are the common coloured ions and their oxidation states of Vanadium? (Colours refer to their aqueous ion)
V2^+/+2/violet
V3^+/+3/green
VO^2+/+4/blue
VO2^+/+5/yellow
What are the common coloured ions and their oxidation states of Chromium? (Colours refer to their aqueous ion)
Cr^3+/+3/green/violet
Cr2O7^2-/+6/orange
What are the common coloured ions and their oxidation states of Manganese? (Colours refer to their aqueous ion)
Mn2+/2+/pale pink
MnO4-/+7/purple
What are the common coloured ions and their oxidation states of Iron? (Colours refer to their aqueous ion)
Fe2+/+2/pale green
Fe3+/+3/yellow
What are the common coloured ions and their oxidation states of Cobalt? (Colours refer to their aqueous ion)
Co2+/+2/pink
What are the common coloured ions and their oxidation states of Nickel? (Colours refer to their aqueous ion)
Ni2+/+2/green
What are the common coloured ions and their oxidation states of Copper? (Colours refer to their aqueous ion)
Cu2+/+2/blue
Why do the transition elements show variable oxidation states?
The energy levels of the 4s and 3d subshells are very close to one another. So different numbers of electrons can be gained or lost using fairly similar amounts of energy.
What causes the special chemical properties of transition metals?
The incomplete d-subshell.
What are complex ions?
A complex ion is a metal ion surrounded by co-ordinately bonded ligands.
What is a co-ordinate bond (dative covalent)?
A covalent bond in which both electrons in the shared pair come from the same atom.
Where does the electron pair come from in a complex?
From the ligands.
What is a ligand?
An atom, ion or molecule that donates a pair of electrons to a central metal ion.
What must a ligand have?
At least one lone pair of electrons, or it won’t have anything to use to form a coordinate bond.
What can different ligands have?
Can have different numbers of lone pairs and can form different numbers of coordinate bonds.
UNIDENTATE
Ligand that can only form one coordinate bond.
MULTIDENTATE
Ligands that can form more than one coordinate bond.
Give 3 examples of unidentate ligands.
Ammonia :NH3
Chloride ions :Cl-
Water H2O:
Give two examples of multidentate ligands.
EDTA4-
EDTA4- has 6 lone pairs (2 on nitrogen, 4 on oxygen)
so can form 6 coordinate bonds.
BIDENTATE
Multidentate ligands that can form two coordinate bonds.
Give an example of a bidentate ligand.
Ethane-1,2-diamine (:NH2CH2CH2:NH2)
What is the overall charge on a complex ion?
It’s total oxidation state. Put outside brackets.
How do you work out the oxidation state of the metal ion within a complex?
The oxidation state of metal ion= The total oxidation state of the complex - The sum of the oxidation state of the ligands.
What does the shape of complex ions depend on?
The coordination number.
COORDINATION NUMBER
The number of coordinate bonds that are formed with the central metal ion.
What shape do complex ions that contain six coordinate bonds make?
OCTAHEDRAL SHAPE
What shape do complex ions that contain four coordinate bonds make?
TETRAHEDRAL SHAPE
What shape do complex ions that contain two coordinate bonds make?
LINEAR SHAPE
What shape do four coordinate bonds make in some cases?
SQUARE PLANAR.
What is haemoglobin?
A protein found in blood that helps to transport oxygen around the body.
What does haemoglobin contain?
Fe2+ ions, which are hexa-coordinated- six lone pairs are donated to them to form six coordinate bonds.
Four of the lone pairs come from nitrogen atoms, which form a circle around the Fe2+.
This part of the molecule is called HAEM.
The molecule that the four nitrogen atoms are part of is a multidentate ligand called porphyrin.
A protein called a globin and either an oxygen or a water molecule also bind to the Fe2+ ion to form an octahedral structure.
How does chromium most commonly exist?
In the 3+ or +6 oxidation state.
It can exist in the +2 oxidation state as well, but much less stable.
What two ions can chromium form in the +6 oxidation state?
Chromate (VI) ions (CrO4^2-) YELLOW
and
dichromate(VI) ions (CrO7^2-) ORANGE
Why are chromate (VI) and dichromate (VI) ions good oxidising agents?
They can easily be reduced to Cr^3+.
What colour are Cr^3+ ions when they are surrounded by 6 water ligands?
VIOLET
but the water ligands are often substituted, so this solution usually looks green instead.
When an alkali (OH- ions) is added to aqueous dichromate(VI) ions (CrO7^2-) what is the colour change?Why?
ORANGE—–>YELLOW
because aqueous chromate (VI) (CrO4^2-) ions are formed.
CrO7^2- (aq) + OH- (aq) -> 2CrO4^2- (aq) + H+ (aq)
When an acid (H+ ions) is added to aqueous chromate (VI) ions, what is the colour change? Why?
YELLOW----> ORANGE aqueous dichromate (VI) ions form.
2CrO4^2- (aq) + H+ (aq) —-> Cr2O7^2- (aq) + OH- (aq)
opposite to when alkali is added to aqueous dichromate the two ions exist in equilibrium
CrO7^2- +H2O 2CrO4^2- +2H+