Transition Metals and their Chemistry Flashcards
What is a simple definition of a transition metal?
An element between the s and p blocks of the periodic table
What is a better definition of a transition metal?
An element which forms one or more stable ions which have incompletely full d sub-shells
What are the general properties of transition metals?
Hard metals with high melting and boiling temperatures
Show more than one oxidation number in their compounds
Many show catalytic activity
Which are d block elements that are not transition metals?
Scandium and zinc
Second definition excludes them
Where are the first electrons lost from in transition metals?
Outer 4s subshell followed by the 3d subshell
How are the small fluctuations in the general trend of increasing ionisation energies explained?
Relative stability of full and half-full subshells
What can phytomining be used for?
Extract transition metals using plants from areas where they cannot be obtained economically by other methods
How is phytomining carried out?
Crops grow on soil containing metal
Plant is burned and energy used for electricity
Leaves bio-ore which is then smelted
What are the advantages and disadvantages of phytomining?
Bio-ores are almost sulphur free
Need less energy for smelting
Cause less acid rain pollution
Usually have higher metal content than mineral ores
‘Green’ alternative to mining low grade ores
Only commercially viable if the price of the metal being extracted remains high
What are general observations made on the transition metals from titanium to copper?
+1, +2, +3 are the most common
From titanium to chromium, +3 is the most common
From manganese onwards, +2 is the most common
What happens with very high oxidation numbers?
Involved in covalent bonding Mn2O7
Form polyatomic ions such as (CrO4)2-
What does changes in the colour of solution indicate?
A change in the oxidation number of the ion
When the 3d orbital is either empty of full, the solution is colurless
What is a simple explanation for explaining the colour of solution?
Due to electrons absorbing photons of certain frequencies of visible light
Energy of each of these photons matches the energy needed for one electron to jump from a lower to a higher energy orbital
Frequencies of visible light remaining after this absorption give the solution its colour
What sort of bonding is involved in complex ions?
Dative covalent (co-odinate) bonds
How are complex ions formed?
Small size results in high electron density which attract electron rich species
Central metal ion is surrounded by either anions or molecules that act as electron-pair donors
The electron-pair donors are called ligands
What does the number of ligands involved in a complex ion depend one?
Size of metal ion
Size of ligand
What is the charge of a complex ion?
Sum of the charge on the metal ion and the charge(s) of the ligands
What are anionic and cationic ion complexes?
Anionic - Attracted to anode during electrolysis
What is the co-ordination number?
Number of lone pairs attached to the metal ion
What are monodentate, bidentate and polydentate ligands?
Mono - join to the metal ion by one atom only
Bi - join to the metal atom by two atoms
Poly - attach to the metal ion by more than two atoms
What is 1,2-diaminoethane? Where are the lone pairs?
:NH2-CH2-CH2-H2N:
What is ethanedioate? Where are the lone pairs?
:O- :O-
C - C
=O =O
What is the charge of edta? Where are the lone pairs?
4-
Nitrogen and oxygens with single bonds
6 lone pairs
Give 3 biological examples that contain transition metals?
Chlorophyll, vitamin B12 and haemoglobin
What does the shape of complex ions depend on? Give some examples of sorts of shape
Depends on number of electrons within the d orbital and the coordination number
Linear, planar, tetrahedral, octohedral