INVESTIGATORY PROJECT FILE

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that UJJWAL , student of
Class XII, Maharaja Agrasen Public School,
Samalkha has completed the PROJECT
INVESTIGATORY FILE during the academic
year 2023-24 towards partial fulfillment of
credit for the CHEMISTRY practical
evaluation of CBSE AISSCE-2024 and
submitted satisfactory report, as compiled
in the following pages, under my
supervision.

Internal Examiner

ExternalExaminer

Date:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
chemistry teacher MR. UDIT JAIN for their
exceptional guidance, unwavering support, and
extensive knowledge throughout the completion of my
chemistry project. Their enthusiasm for the subject and
continuous assistance were instrumental in shaping the
success of this project.

I am immensely thankful to my parents and family for

their constant encouragement and belief in my abilities.
Their unwavering support provided me with the
motivation and determination to excel in this project.

I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of

my classmates who actively participated in laboratory
experiments and shared their observations and insights
during the project’s development. Their collaboration
and exchange of ideas enriched the project’s overall
quality and contributed to a deeper understanding of
chemistry concepts.

Lastly, I extend my appreciation to the school

administration for providing the necessary laboratory
facilities, chemicals, and equipment required for
conducting experiments. Their support and
commitment to academic excellence have been crucial
in the successful completion of this chemistry project.

By : Ujjwal
COORDINATION COMPOUNDS :
Certain compounds such as coordinates have an identical formula
but different properties and different structure. Even though they
have the same formula they carry different color. You might be
wondering which are these compounds. To know more about
isomerism in coordination compounds, let’s dig deep into this
interesting topic in the section below.

What are Ligands?

A metal ion in a solution cannot exist in isolation but in combination

with ligands such as solvent molecules or simple ions that form
complex ions or coordination compounds. These complexes have a
central atom or ion which is often a transition metal.

These complexes also have a cluster of ion or neutral molecules

surrounding ligands that bond with a coordinated bond to a central
metal atom or ion. Ligands act as Lewis bases (electron pair donor)
or as Lewis acids (electron pair acceptor).

Complex Ions

The ability of metallic elements to act as Lewis acids that form metal
complexes with a variety of Lewis bases is their most important
property. A metal complex has a central metal atom or ion that bonds
to one or more ligands. These are the complex ions. A coordinate
compound contains one or more metal complexes.

Why are Coordination Compounds Important?

Mentioned below are three reasons explaining why coordination

compounds are essential.
  The periodic table has most of the elements that are metals,
and almost all metals form complexes.
 Many industrial catalysts are metal complexes and important to
control reactions.
 Transition metal complexes are essential in biochemistry.
Isomers
Isomers are two or more different compounds having the same
formula. There are two principal types of isomerism in coordination
compounds:

1. Stereo isomerism in coordination compounds

2. Structural isomerism in coordination compounds
What are Stereoisomers?
Stereoisomers are the isomers that have the same atoms, the same set
of bonds that differ only in the relative orientation of these bonds.
These are subdivided as follows:

 Geometrical isomerism: Geometrical isomers are possible

for square, planar, and octahedral complexes, but not
tetrahedral.
 Optical isomerism: This isomerism is possible for both
tetrahedral and octahedral complexes, but not for square
and planar.
 Source: Wikipedia

What are Structural Isomers?

Structural isomers are the isomers that have the same molecular
formula, that differ in the bonding patterns and atomic organization.
Structural isomerism is subdivided as below:
 Source: Wikipedia

Coordination Isomerism

Here the compounds contain complex anionic and cationic parts

occurring by the interchange of some ligands from the cationic part to
the anionic part. For example,

[Co(NH3)6] [Cr(C2O4)3] isomer 1

[Co(C2O4)3] [Cr(NH3)6] isomer 2

Ionization Isomerism

Here, isomers occur because of the formation of different ions in a

solution. For example,

[PtBr(NH3)3]O2NO2 anion in solution

[Pt(NO2)(NH3)]Br anion in solution

However, both anions are necessary to balance the charge of the

complex. Moreover, the difference in both isomers is one ion directly
attaches to the central metal but the other does not.

Hydrate Isomerism

A well-known and the best example of this isomer is chromium

chloride, Cr Cl3.6H2O, which may contain 4, 5, or 6 co-ordinate
water molecules.
[CrCl2(H2O)4]Cl.H2O bright green
CrCl(H2O)5]Cl2.H2O grey-green
Cr(H2O)6]Cl3 violet

Question: What are the applications of coordination compounds?

Ans: Coordination compounds have the following applications.

 Dyes and pigments: Ancient Greeks used a red madder dye

for various purposes. A recent example is copper
phthalocyanine, which is blue.
 Analytical chemistry: Some coordination compounds are
used as reagents in the laboratory for color tests,
gravimetric analysis and complexometric titration and
masking agents.
 Sequestering agents: We can get rid of objectionable ions in
industrial processes with coordination compounds.
 Extraction of metals: Leaching of metals is done from their
ores by the formation of stable complexes. For example, Ag
and An as complexes of cyanide ions.
 Bio-inorganic chemistry: Naturally occurring complexes are
hemoglobin, chlorophyll, vitamin B12, etc.
What is Werner’s Theory?
In 1823, Werner put forth this theory to describe the structure and
formation of complex compounds or coordination compounds. It is
because of this theory that he got the Nobel prize and is known as the
father of coordination chemistry.

Postulates of Werner’s Theory

The important postulates of Werner’s theory are:

 The central metal or the metal atoms in coordination

compounds show two types of valency. They are the primary
and secondary valency.
 The primary valency relates to the oxidation state and the
secondary valency relates to the coordinate number.
  The number of secondary valences is fixed for
every metal atom. It means that the coordination number is
fixed.
 The metal atom works towards satisfying both its primary
and secondary valencies. A negative ion satisfies the primary
valency. On the other hand, a negative ion or neutral
molecules satisfy secondary valencies.
 The secondary valencies point towards a fixed position in
space. This is the reason behind the definite geometry of the
coordinate compound. For example, let us consider the case
of a metal ion having six secondary valencies. These arrange
octahedrally around the central metal ion. If the metal ion
has four secondary valencies, these arrange in either
tetrahedral or square planar arrangement around the
central metal ion. Therefore, we see that the secondary
valency determines the stereochemistry of the complex ion.
On the other hand, the primary valency is non-directional.
 Werner’s theory is responsible for the formation of structures of
various cobalt amines. We will look at its explanation now.
Cobalt has a primary valency (oxidation state) of three and
exhibits secondary valency (coordination number) of 6. We
represent the secondary valencies by thick lines and the primary
valency by broken lines.

 1) CoCl3.6NH3 Complex: In this compound, the coordination

number of cobalt is 6 and NH3 molecules satisfy all the 6
secondary valencies. Chloride ions satisfy the 3 primary
valencies. These are non-directional in character. These
chloride ions instantaneously precipitate on the addition
of silver nitrate. The total number of ions, in this case, is 4,
three chloride ions and one complex ion.


 2) CoCl3.5NH3 complex: In this compound, cobalt has the

coordination number of 6. However, we see that the number of
NH3molecule decreases to 5. The chloride ion occupies the
remaining one position. This chloride ion exhibits the dual
behaviour as it has primary as well as secondary valency.

 3) CoCl3.4NH3 complex: In this compound, two chloride ions

exhibit the dual behaviour of satisfying both Primary and
Secondary Valencies. This compound gives a precipitate with
silver nitrate corresponding to only one Cl– ion and the total
number of ions, in this case, is 2. Hence, we can formulate it as
[CoCl2(NH3)4]Cl.

 Werner’s Theory and Isomerism

 Werner turned his attention towards the geometrical
arrangements of the coordinated groups around the central
cation. He was successful in explaining the cause behind optical
 and geometrical isomerism of these compounds. Some
examples are as follows:

 1) [CoCl2(NH3)4]Cl complex: According to Werner, there are

three structures possible for this complex. These are planar,
trigonal prism, octahedral. The number of possible isomers is 3
for planar, 3 for trigonal prism and 2 for octahedral structure.

 However, as we could isolate only two isomers of the

compound, he concluded that geometrical arrangement of the
coordinated group around the central atom in this compound
was octahedral. In the case of several other complexes in which
the coordination number of the central atom was six, Werner
was of the opinion that in all these cases the six coordinated
complex have octahedral geometry.

 He also read the geometry of the complexes where the

coordination number of the central metal atom is 4. He gave
two possible structures for such compounds: Square Planar and
Tetrahedral. Let us look at an example of the same.

 2) [PtCl2(NH3)2] complex: In this complex, the coordination

number of the metal is 4. According to Werner, this complex
exists in two isomeric forms, cis and trans. This shows that all
the four ligands lie in the same plane. Therefore, the structure
should be a square planar or tetrahedral.
 REFERENCE
TITLE :
ISOMERISM IN COORDINATION
COMPOUNDS AND WERNER THEORY

VOLUME :
15 PAGES

BIBLOGRAPHY:
*CLASS 12 NCERT TEXTBOOK PART I
* CLASS NOTES
*TOPPR.COM