Challenge question: This question is worth 6 points. As you saw in problem 9 we can have species bound to a central metal ion. T
hese species are called ligands. In the past we have assumed all the d orbitals in some species are degenerate; however, they often are not. 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 3 low lying d orbitals, which will be filled with 6 electrons before filling the 2, assumed to be degenerate, higher energy orbitals.
B. There are 4 low lying d orbitals, which will be filled with 8 electrons before filling the 1 higher energy orbital.
C. 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.
D. All the d orbitals are degenerate.
E. 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.
