Transition Elements: Complex Ions, Variable Oxidation States and Catalysis · Semester 1
Colour and d-Orbital Splitting in Transition Metal Complexes
Students will observe and explain why many compounds of transition metals are colored, linking it to their electronic structure (without complex theory).
Key Questions
- Relate the colour of a transition metal complex to the crystal field splitting energy Δ, explaining why the observed colour is complementary to the wavelength absorbed and how Δ varies with ligand field strength.
- Predict how the colour of a transition metal complex changes when a weak-field ligand is replaced by a strong-field ligand, using the spectrochemical series and illustrating with specific [Co(H₂O)₆]²⁺ versus [Co(NH₃)₆]²⁺ examples.
- Analyse why some transition metal compounds are colourless despite containing a d-block element, identifying the electronic configurations (d⁰, d¹⁰) responsible and explaining in terms of the absence of d–d transitions.
MOE Syllabus Outcomes
MOE: Transition Metal Compounds - MSMOE: Observation and Description - MS
Level: JC 2
Subject: Chemistry
Unit: Transition Elements: Complex Ions, Variable Oxidation States and Catalysis
Period: Semester 1
Suggested Methodologies
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