Sometimes the ligands bound to a central metal cation can split the d orbitals.

Question

Sometimes the ligands bound to a central metal cation can split the d orbitals. That is, some of the d orbitals will be at a lower energy state than others. Ligands that have the ability to cause this splitting are called strong field ligands, CN- is an example of these. If this splitting in the d orbitals is great enough electrons will fill low lying orbitals, pairing with other electrons in a given orbital, before filling higher energy orbitals. In question 7 we had Fe2+, furthermore we found that there were a certain number (non-zero) of unpaired electrons. Consider now Fe(CN)64-: here we also have Fe2+, but in this case all the electrons are paired, yielding a diamagnetic species. How can you explain this?

A. There are 4 low lying d orbitals, which will be filled with 8 electrons before filling the 1 higher energy orbital.

B. There are 2 low lying d orbitals, which will be filled with 4 electrons before filling the 3, assumed to be degenerate, higher energy orbitals.

C. There are 3 low lying d orbitals, which will be filled with 6 electrons before filling the 2, assumed to be degenerate, higher energy orbitals.

D. There is 1 low lying d orbital, which will be filled with two electrons before filling the 4, assumed to be degenerate, higher energy orbitals.

E. All the d orbitals are degenerate.

Explanation / Answer

In octahedral splitting, there are 2 high energy d-orbitals and 3 low energy d-orbitals.

Thus,The correct option is :-

C. There are 3 low lying d orbitals, which will be filled with 6 electrons before filling the 2, assumed to be degenerate, higher energy orbitals.

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