In the compound, CaNa[Fe(CN)_6], what ligands are in the coordination sphere?

1 Answer
May 30, 2016

You didn't specify which coordination sphere.


In stackrel(+2)"Ca"stackrel(+1)"Na"[stackrel(+3)"Fe " stackrel(-"1 each")(("CN")_6)] as-written, a mixed calcium-sodium hexacyanoferrate(III) complex:

  • The first coordination sphere involves what is directly coordinating with "Fe"^(3+), which are the cyanide ions.
  • The second coordination sphere involves anything coordinating from the outside with the first coordination sphere. These species in the second coordination sphere are the sodium and calcium cations.
  • Iron would be a d^5 metal, since it is supposedly "Fe"^(3+).
  • Thus it would have 2 pairs of electrons in its t_(2g) orbitals and 1 electron in its third t_(2g) orbital.

Now, to me something seems off.

Could you mean "CaNa"_2["Fe"("CN")_6], where the first coordination sphere has a 4- charge instead of a 3- charge?

In this case, iron(II) would be a d^6 metal, with a full t_(2g) set, i.e. it would be more kinetically inert/stable.

A filled t_(2g) set usually implies poor kinetic favorability with electron donors trying to react with it, as they would try to donate into the high-lying (usually antibonding) e_g set and increase the antibonding character of the metal-ligand bonds, thus weakening the metal-ligand bonds.