Coordination Chemistry Solutions: #4
4.* (1996 F 1) What's the maximum number of unpaired electrons any transition metal complex can have? Any transition metal has 5 d orbitals. Therefore, the maximum number of unpaired electrons that it can have is 5. A. Illustrate this for a metal with oxidation state 2+. Mn2+ complexes such as [Mn(en)3]2+(ClO4)2-, Mn(H2O)62+, etc. B. What other condition must be satisfied? The complex must be high spin. This is why we couldn’t have used a Tc2+ complex as our example in A: only 3d metals can be high spin. Spin-orbit coupling prevents this for the heavier elements. |