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Raising a new Generation of Leaders

Selected topics in
Chemistry for non-major
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Dr. Adebisi, A. A.
Department of Chemistry,
Covenant University, Ota.
 TRANSITION METALS
 Transition elements are defined as those
elements having a partially filled d or f sub-shell
in any of their commonly occurring oxidation
states as well as the atomic state.
 They are so called because their properties is
intermediate between s and p block elements.
 The d-block transition elements are those
transition elements with an unfilled d-sub-shell in
common oxidation states.
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ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION
We know that the electronic configuration of the
argon atom is ls22s22p63s23p6. In atoms of the
successive elements from potassium to zinc,
electrons can enter either 3d or 4s levels.
In potassium and calcium atoms, the differentiating
electrons enter the 4.v level, so the electronic
configuration of calcium can be written as [Ar]4s2.
At scandium the 3d level begins to fill instead of 4p
and the outer electronic configuration of the first
transition series is given below:
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• This filling is, however, not regular, since at chromium and copper,
the population of 3d orbitals increase by the acquisition of an
electron from the 4s shell. At chromium, both the 3d and 4s
orbitals are occupied, but neither is completely filled in preference
to the other.
• In the case of copper, the 3d level is full, but only one electron
occupies the 4s orbital. This suggests that in copper, the 3d orbital
energy is lower than the 4s orbital. However, the whole question
of preference of an atom to adopt a particular electronic
configuration is not determined by orbital energy alone. In
chromium, it can be shown that the 4s orbital energy is still below
the 3d which suggests a configuration [Ar] 3d44s2. However due to
the effect of electronic repulsion between the outer electrons, the
actual configuration becomes [Ar]3d54s1 where all the electrons in
the outer orbitals are unpaired.
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Elements Configuration
Sc 3d14s2
Ti 3d24s2
V 3d34s2

Cr 3d54s1

Mn 3d54s2

Fe 3d64s2

Co 3d74s2

Ni 3d84s2

Cu 3d104s1

Zn 3d104s2

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 Zinc (3d104s2), Cadmium (4d106s2) and mercury
(5d106s2) are not d-block transition elements by
strict definition, they are often included with
them because of their similar properties.

 The f-block transition elements (or inner

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 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
The transition metals resemble each other closely in their
physical properties. They are metals and form alloys with one
another and other metallic elements.

They are all hard, strong, ductile, malleable, lustrous, with high
melting and boiling points.

They are good conductors of heat and electricity.

They have high density.

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 PERIODIC TRENDS IN PROPERTIES
• The difference in the trends in the properties of
d-block elements from those of s-and p-block
elements arises from a basic difference in their
electronic configuration.
• While in the building up of elements from lithium
to fluorine, the electrons are added to the
outermost shell, in the case of transition metals,
the electrons are added to inner (n-1)d subshell.

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• Small and irregular decrease in metallic/atomic radii
coupled with the relative increase in atomic mass leads
to a gradual increase in density from scandium to copper.
• The melting and boiling points of transition elements are
usually high. These depend upon the strength of the
metallic bond. The strength of the metallic bond
increases with the availability of the electrons to
participate in bonding. The presence of one or more
unpaired d electrons thus leads to higher interatomic
forces and therefore, high melting and boiling
temperatures.

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• But, we cannot generalise the argument because when
we move across any period in the periodic table, the
melting point increases up to the middle of each
transition series and then it decreases with the
beginning of electron pairing. For the elements of first
transition series. there is a sharp decrease of melting
point at manganese, which has five unpaired d electrons.
However, the softness and low melting point of Zn, Cd
and Hg (Hg is a liquid) in which all the electrons are
paired up can tentatively be explained on the above basis.

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• As we move across a period, the effective nuclear
charge experienced by electrons goes on
increasing causing the shells to shrink in size and
thus making it difficult to remove the electrons.
Thus along a period, the ionisation energy
increases.
• Electronegativity increases from Sc to Cu with a
fall at Zn. The increasing electronegativity from Sc
to Cu means that the elements become slightly
less metallic.
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 CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
 Variable oxidation states:
Each transition element exhibit several
oxidation states. The various oxidation states
are achieved by loss of the outer “s” electrons
from the neutral atom before exposing the “d”
electrons.

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Electron configurations contd.
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• Formation of complexes
Transition metals form complex ions. These ions
have vacant orbitals of suitable energy to accept
lone pairs of electrons donated by other groups or
ligands. The bonding between the ligand and the
transition metal ion can either be predominantly
electrostatic or covalent or in many cases
intermediate between the two extremes. Some of
the typical complexes of the transition metals are
[Fe(CN)6]3- [Ni(NH3)4]2+, [Cu(CN)4]3-,
[Cu(NH3)4]2+, etc
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• Formation of coloured compounds
Compounds of transition elements are usually markedly
coloured, in contrast to compounds of s- and p- block
elements which are mostly white or colourless. Since
we know that transition metals as such or in the form
of ions have partly filled d orbitals and by absorbing
energy, electrons can move from a d-orbital of lower
energy to that of higher energy. This transition of
electron from one d-orbital to another corresponds to a
fairly small energy difference; therefore, light is
absorbed in the visible region of spectrum.

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• Whenever the d-orbitals are completely filled or
empty, there is no possibility of electronic
transitions within the d-orbitals. In such cases,
the ions will not show any colour. For example,
the compounds of Sc3+, Ti4+, Cu+ and Zn2+ are
white or colourless.

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values for
higher charges
may be found
from these by
subtracting the
appropriate
number of
electrons (e.g.
Ti4+ (3d)0 and
Fe3+ (3d)5).
• Magnetic property
The property of an element to be attracted or repelled
by a magnet differs from element to element.
Substances which are weakly repelled by a magnetic
field are called diamagnetic, while the substances
which are weakly attracted by the magnetic field and
lose their magnetism when removed from the field are
called paramagnetic. If the force of attraction is very
large and the permanent magnetisation is retained,
the substance is said to be ferromagnetic, e.g., iron
and some iron compounds.
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• Catalytic properties
Many transition metals and their compounds are
able to act as catalysts because of the ease with
which the metal can adopt different oxidation states
and also because of their ability to form complexes.
Examples are:
Iron catalyst are used in Haber process for the
synthesis of ammonia.

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Platinum and Rhodium are used in the catalytic converter in
car exhaust to reduce the emission of CO and NO.
Nickel is used as a catalyst in hydrogenation reaction for the
production of margarine.
Vanadium(V) oxide (vanadium pentoxide, V2O5) is used as the
catalyst in converting sulfur dioxide into sulfur trioxide as a
stage in the manufacture of sulfuric acid in the CONTACT
PROCESS.
2SO2(g) + O2(g) ==> 2SO3(g) (via V2O5 catalyst)
A very important industrial process because sulphuric acid is a
widely used chemical in industry.
TiCl4 as (Ziegler Natta Catalyst) for polymerisation of ethene
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