Many transition metal complexes are said to follow the “18-electron rule,” meaning they form particularly stable complexes when the metal + ligand electrons contributing to the MOs add up to a total of 18 electrons.
Atomic Structure
The basic structure of an atom is defined as the component-level of atomic structure of an atom. Precisely speaking an atom consists of three major subatomic particles which are protons, neutrons, and electrons. Many theories have been stated for explaining the structure of an atom.
Shape of the D Orbital
Shapes of orbitals are an approximate representation of boundaries in space for finding electrons occupied in that respective orbital. D orbitals are known to have a clover leaf shape or dumbbell inside where electrons can be found.
- Many
transition metal complexes are said to follow the “18-electron rule,” meaning they form particularly stable complexes when the metal + ligand electrons contributing to the MOs add up to a total of 18 electrons.
a. Use the full MO diagram for an octahedral metal complex with pi-acidic ligands we derived in class to justify why 18-electrons might be particularly stable.
b. Use the 18-electron rule to predict which 1st row transition metal would be most likely to form an octahedral M(CO)6 (Note: there is no charge; the metal retains all its electrons.)
c. Qualitatively, how would you expect the CO bond to change when it forms this complex? Would it be stronger, weaker, or the same compared to free CO? (Hint: think about what a ? −???? means and what the orbital does from the perspective of the M–CO interaction as well as the C– O interaction).
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