The d block:

• The d block consists of three horizontal

series in periods 4, 5 & 6
– 10 elements in each series
– Chemistry is “different” from other
elements
– Special electronic configurations important
• Differences within a group in the d block are
less sharp than in s & p block
• Similarities across a period are greater

SS CI 11.5 The d block 1

Electronic Configuration
• Across the 1st row of the d block
(Sc to Zn) each element
– has 1 more electron and 1 more proton
– Each “additional” electron enters the
3d sub-shell
– The core configuration for all the
period 4 transition elements is that of
Ar
• 1s22s22p63s23p6

SS CI 11.5 The d block 2

Energy
4p

3d
4s

3p

3s

2p

2s
Ar
1s 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6
SS CI 11.5 The d block 3
Energy
4p

3d
4s

3p

3s

2p

2s
Sc

1s 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d1 4s2

SS CI 11.5 The d block 4
 Electronic Arrangement
Element Z 3d 4s
Sc 21 [Ar]  
Ti 22 [Ar]   
V 23 [Ar]    
Cr 24 [Ar]      
Mn 25 [Ar]      
Fe 26 [Ar]      
Co 27 [Ar]      
Ni 28 [Ar]      
Cu 29 [Ar]      
Zn 30 [Ar]      
SS CI 11.5 The d block 5
Chromium and Copper
• Cr and Cu don’t fit the pattern of
building up the 3d sub-shell, why?
– In the ground state electrons are always
arranged to give lowest total energy
– Electrons are negatively charged and repel
each other
– Lower total energy is obtained with e- singly
in orbitals rather than if they are paired in
an orbital
– Energies of 3d and 4s orbitals very close
together in Period 4

SS CI 11.5 The d block 6

Chromium and Copper

• At Cr
– Orbital energies such that putting one
e- into each 3d and 4s orbital gives
lower energy than having 2 e- in the
4s orbital
• At Cu
– Putting 2 e- into the 4s orbital would
give a higher energy than filling the
3d orbitals

SS CI 11.5 The d block 7

Energy
4p

3d
4s

3p

3s

2p

2s
Cr

1s 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d5 4s1

SS CI 11.5 The d block 8
Energy
4p

3d
4s

3p

3s

2p

2s
Cu

1s 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s1

SS CI 11.5 The d block 9
What is a transition metal?
• Transition metals [TM’s] have
characteristic properties
– e.g. coloured compounds, variable oxidation
states
• These are due to presence of an inner
incomplete d sub-shell
• Electrons from both inner d sub-shell
and outer s sub-shell can be involved in
compound formation
SS CI 11.5 The d block 10
What is a transition metal?
• Not all d block elements have
incomplete d sub-shells
– e.g. Zn has e.c. of [Ar]3d104s2, the
Zn2+ ion ([Ar] 3d10) is not a typical TM
ion
– Similarly Sc forms Sc3+ which has the
stable e.c of Ar. Sc3+ has no 3d
electrons

SS CI 11.5 The d block 11

What is a transition metal?
• For this reason, a transition metal
is defined as being an element
which forms at least one ion with a
partially filled sub-shell of d
electrons.
– In period 4 only Ti-Cu are TM’s!
– Note that when d block elements form
ions the s electrons are lost first

SS CI 11.5 The d block 12

What are TM’s like?
• TM’s are metals
• They are similar to each other but
different from s block metals eg Na and
Mg
• Properties of TM’s
– Dense metals
– Have high Tm and Tb
– Tend to be hard and durable
– Have high tensile strength
– Have good mechanical properties

SS CI 11.5 The d block 13

What are TM’s like?
• Properties derive from strong metallic
bonding
• TM’s can release e- into the pool of mobile
electrons from both outer and inner shells
– Strong metallic bonds formed between the
mobile pool and the +ve metal ions
– Enables widespread use of TMs!
– Alloys very important: inhibits slip in crystal
lattice usually results in increased hardness
and reduced malleability

SS CI 11.5 The d block 14

Effect of Alloying on TM’s

SS CI 11.5 The d block 15

TM Chemical Properties
• Typical chemical properties of the
TM’s are
– Formation of compounds in a variety of
oxidation states
– Catalytic activity of the elements and
their compounds
– Strong tendency to form complexes
• See CI 11.6
– Formation of coloured compounds
• See CI 11.6
SS CI 11.5 The d block 16
Variable Oxidation States
• TM’s show a great variety of
oxidation states cf s block metals
• If compare successive ionisation
enthalpies (Hi) for Ca and V as
follows
M(g)  M+(g) + e- Hi(1)
M+(g)  M2+(g) + e- Hi(2)
M2+(g)  M3+(g) + e- Hi(3)
M3+(g)  M4+(g) + e- Hi(4)
SS CI 11.5 The d block 17
Hi for Ca and V
Ionisation Enthalpies
[kJ mol-1]
Element
Hi(1) Hi(2) Hi(3) Hi(4)

Ca [Ar]4s2 +596 +1152 +4918 +6480

V [Ar]3d34s2 +656 +1420 +2834 +4513

SS CI 11.5 The d block 18

Hi for Ca and V
• Both Ca & V always lose the 4s electrons
• For Ca
 Hi(1) & Hi(2) relatively low as corresponds
to removing outer 4s e-
– Sharp increase in Hi(3) & Hi(4) cf Hi(2)
due to difficulty in removing 3p e-
• For Sc
– Gradual increase from Hi(1) to Hi(4) as
removing 4s then 3d e-

SS CI 11.5 The d block 19

Oxidation States of TM’s
• In the following table
– Most important OS’s in boxes
– OS = +1 only important for Cu
– In all others sum of Hi(1) + Hi(2)
low enough for 2e- to be removed
– OS = +2, where 4s e- lost shown by
all except for Sc and Ti
– OS = +3, shown by all except Zn

SS CI 11.5 The d block 20

Oxidation States of TM’s
S Ti V C M F C N C Z
c r n e o i u n
+1

+2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2

+3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3

+4 +4 +4

+5

+6 +6 +6

+7 SS CI 11.5 The d block 21

Oxidation States of TM’s
• No of OS’s shown by an element
increases from Sc to Mn
– In each of these elements highest OS is
equal to no. of 3d and 4s e-
• After Mn decrease in no. of OS’s shown
by an element
– Highest OS shown becomes lower and less
stable
– Seems increasing nuclear charge binds 3d e-
more strongly, hence harder to remove

SS CI 11.5 The d block 22

Oxidation States of TM’s
• In general
– Lower OS’s found in simple ionic
compounds
• E.g. compounds containing Cr3+, Mn2+, Fe3+,
Cu2+ ions
– TM’s in higher OS’s usually covalently
bound to electronegative element such
as O or F
• E.g VO3-, vanadate(V) ion; MnO4-,
manganate(VII) ion
• Simple ions with high OS’s such as V5+ &
Mn7+ are not formed
SS CI 11.5 The d block 23
Stability of OS’s
• Change from one OS to another is a
redox reaction
• Relative stability of different OS’s
can be predicted by looking at
Standard Electrode Potentials
– E values

SS CI 11.5 The d block 24

Stability of OS’s
• General trends
– Higher OS’s become less stable
relative to lower ones on moving from
left to right across the series
– Compounds containing TM’s in high OS’s
tend to be oxidising agents e.g MnO4-
– Compounds with TM’s in low OS’s are
often reducing agents e.g V2+ & Fe2+

SS CI 11.5 The d block 25

Stability of OS’s
• General trends (continued)
– Relative stability of +2 state with respect to
+3 state increases across the series
– For compounds early in the series, +2 state
highly reducing
• E.g. V2+(aq) & Cr2+(aq) strong reducing agents
– Later in series +2 stable, +3 state highly
oxidising
• E.g. Co3+ is a strong oxidising agent, Ni3+ & Cu3+ do
not exist in aqueous solution.

SS CI 11.5 The d block 26

Catalytic Activity
• TM’s and their compounds effective and
important catalysts
– Industrially and biologically!!
• The “people in the know” believe
– catalysts provide reaction pathway with lower
EA than uncatalysed reaction (see CI 10.5)
• Once again,
– availability of 3d and 4s e-
– ability to change OS
– among factors which make TM’s such good
catalysts

SS CI 11.5 The d block 27

Heterogeneous Catalysis
• Catalyst in different phase from reactants
– Usually means solid TM catalyst with reactants
in liquid or gas phases
• TM’s can
– use the 3d and 4s e- of atoms on metal
surface to from weak bonds to the reactants.
– Once reaction has occurred on TM surface,
these bonds can break to release products
• Important example is hydrogenation of
alkenes using Ni or Pt catalyst

SS CI 11.5 The d block 28

Heterogeneous Catalysis

SS CI 11.5 The d block 29

Homogeneous Catalysis
• Catalyst in same phase as reactants
– Usually means reaction takes place in
aqueous phase
– Catalyst aqueous TM ion
• Usually involves
– TM ion forming intermediate compound
with ome or more of the reactants
– Intermediate then breaks down to
form products
SS CI 11.5 The d block 30
 Homogeneous Catalysis
O
HO H C
C O OH O + O
+ 3 HO 2 C 2 HC + 4 OH2
C O O
HO H C O

O
• Above reaction is that used in
Activity SS5.2
– 2,3-dihydroxybutanoate ion with
hydrogen peroxide
– Reaction catalysed by Co2+

SS CI 11.5 The d block 31

 Suggested Mechanism
REACTANTS INTERMEDIATE
H2O2 + Co2+ reduces containing
-
O2CCH(OH)CH(OH)C02- H2O2 & gets Co3+ (green)
oxidised to
Co2+ (pink) Co3+ Co3+ oxidises
2,3-
hydroxy-
Regenerated PRODUCTS butanoate &
Catalyst gets
CO2, methanoate, H2O reduced to
Co2+
Co2+ (pink)

SS CI 11.5 The d block 32