Directions: In the following questions, A statement of Assertion (A) ...
In tetrahedral complexes, the splitting of the d-orbitals is inverted and is smaller in comparison to octahedral complexes. The Crystal field splitting energy is not large enough to force pairing and hence, low spin complexes are rarely observed.
Directions: In the following questions, A statement of Assertion (A) ...
Assertion (A): Low spin tetrahedral complexes are rarely observed.
Reason (R): Crystal field splitting is less than pairing energy for tetrahedral complexes.
The correct answer is option A, which means that both the assertion and the reason are true, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
Explanation:
- Tetrahedral complexes are a type of coordination complexes formed between a central metal ion and four surrounding ligands arranged in a tetrahedral geometry.
- In tetrahedral complexes, the crystal field splitting (Δ) is generally smaller than the pairing energy (P), which refers to the energy required to pair up electrons in the d orbitals.
- The crystal field splitting arises from the interaction between the d orbitals of the metal ion and the ligands. In tetrahedral complexes, the ligands approach the metal ion along the axes between the d orbitals, resulting in a smaller splitting compared to octahedral complexes where the ligands approach along the axes perpendicular to the d orbitals.
- Due to the smaller crystal field splitting, the energy difference between the lower energy t2g orbitals and the higher energy eg orbitals is relatively small in tetrahedral complexes.
- In low spin complexes, the electrons occupy the lower energy t2g orbitals before pairing up in the higher energy eg orbitals. This arrangement minimizes the repulsion between electrons and results in a stable electronic configuration.
- However, in tetrahedral complexes, the smaller crystal field splitting makes the energy difference between the t2g and eg orbitals even smaller. As a result, the pairing energy required to pair up electrons in the higher energy eg orbitals becomes comparable to or larger than the crystal field splitting energy.
- This means that it is less favorable for electrons to occupy the higher energy eg orbitals and pair up, leading to a preference for low spin configurations in tetrahedral complexes.
- Due to this preference for low spin configurations and the smaller crystal field splitting, low spin tetrahedral complexes are rarely observed compared to high spin tetrahedral complexes or low spin octahedral complexes.
Therefore, the reason provided in statement (R) correctly explains why low spin tetrahedral complexes are rarely observed.