Submitted by M. Watzky / University of Northern Colorado on Thu, 06/30/2016 - 17:21
Additional Authors
Carmen Works / Sonoma State University
Elon Ison / North Carolina State University
Eugene Chong / University of Michigan
Matthew Riehl / Minnesota State University, Mankato
Stephanie Poland / Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
My Notes
Categories
Prerequisites
General Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Corequisites
No Corequisites
Course Level
Upper Division/Graduate
Topics Covered
Bonding models: Discrete molecules
Electronic structure
Subdiscipline
Coordination Chemistry
Molecular Structure and Bonding
Organometallic Chemistry
Description

This activity guides students into building a Molecular Orbital diagram, which focuses on metal-centered orbitals of mostly d character, for a square pyramidal complex that includes different types of ligands. Students are then asked to "fill" the resulting orbitals with metal d electrons, and examine the stability of the complex.

Attachment Size
Activity .docx 26.46 KB
Activity .pdf 73.56 KB
Learning Goals

Upon completing this activity, students will be able to....

-build a MO diagram for a square pyramidal complex.

-include the effect of ligands with sigma-donating, pi-donating and/or pi-accepting character.

 

 

Related activities
Oxorhenium(V) Methyl, Benzyl, and Phenyl Complexes: New Mechanism for Carbonyl Insertion
Implementation Notes

Students should work in small groups of 3-4.

Time Required
Up to one lecture period (50 minutes) if working in groups. This will depend on how comfortable students already are with building MO diagrams for an octahedral complex.
Web Resources
Robbins, L.K., Lilly, C.P., Smeltz, J.L., Boyle, P.D. and Ison, E.A. Organometa…
Creative Commons License
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike CC BY-NC-SA