Ionic compounds electron configurations

We have already seen that when metals and nonmetals react to form solid binary ionic compounds, electrons are transferred and the resulting ions typically have noble gas electron configurations. An example is the formation of KBr, where the K ion has the [Ar] electron configuration and the Br- ion has the [Kr] electron configuration. In writing Lewis structures, the rule is that... 

There are many compounds which do not conduct electricity when solid or fused indicating that the bonding is neither metallic nor ionic. Lewis, in 1916. suggested that in such cases bonding resulted from a sharing of electrons. In the formation of methane CH4 for example, carbon, electronic configuration l.s 2.s 2p. uses the tour electrons in the second quantum level to form four equivalent... 

To date there is no evidence that sodium forms any chloride other than NaCl indeed the electronic theory of valency predicts that Na" and CU, with their noble gas configurations, are likely to be the most stable ionic species. However, since some noble gas atoms can lose electrons to form cations (p. 354) we cannot rely fully on this theory. We therefore need to examine the evidence provided by energetic data. Let us consider the formation of a number of possible ionic compounds and first, the formation of sodium dichloride , NaCl2. The energy diagram for the formation of this hypothetical compound follows the pattern of that for NaCl but an additional endothermic step is added for the second ionisation energy of sodium. The lattice energy is calculated on the assumption that the compound is ionic and that Na is comparable in size with Mg ". The data are summarised below (standard enthalpies in kJ) ... 

Numerous ionic compounds with halogens are known but a noble gas configuration can also be achieved by the formation of a covalent bond, for example in halogen molecules, X2, and hydrogen halides, HX. When the fluorine atom acquires one additional electron the second quantum level is completed, and further gain of electrons is not energetically possible under normal circumstances, i.e... 

Whether an element is the source of the cation or anion in an ionic bond depends on several factors for which the periodic table can serve as a guide In forming ionic compounds elements at the left of the periodic table typically lose electrons giving a cation that has the same electron configuration as the nearest noble gas Loss of an elec tron from sodium for example yields Na which has the same electron configuration as neon... 

CyclooctatetraenylCompounds. Sandwich-type complexes of cyclooctatetraene (COT), CgH g, are well known. The chemistry of thorium—COT complexes is similar to that of its Cp analogues in steric number and electronic configurations. Thorocene [12702-09-9], COT2Th, (16), the simplest of the COT derivatives, has been prepared by the interaction of ThCl [10026-08-1] and two equivalents of K CgHg. Thorocene derivatives with alkyl-, sdyl-, and aryl-substituted COT ligands have also been described. These compounds are thermally stable, air-sensitive, and appear to have substantial ionic character. 

The dominant features which control the stoichiometry of transition-metal complexes relate to the relative sizes of the metal ions and the ligands, rather than the niceties of electronic configuration. You will recall that the structures of simple ionic solids may be predicted with reasonable accuracy on the basis of radius-ratio rules in which the relative ionic sizes of the cations and anions in the lattice determine the structure adopted. Similar effects are important in determining coordination numbers in transition-metal compounds. In short, it is possible to pack more small ligands than large ligands about a metal ion of a given size. 

Most tin(II) compounds display structures with a trigonal pyramidal coordination. This is of course to be expected as the tin atom is in the first place electrophilic in order to complete its outer electron configuration (cf. Chapter 5 and 6). To illustrate the resemblance of this geometry between ionic and molecular compounds, the structure of NH4SnF3 (5) 31) is compared with that of the cage compound (Me3CN)3(Me3A10)Sn4 (6) 32). The coordination sphere of the tin atom is the same in 5 and 6 (for the complete structure of 6 see Sect. 6.5) ... 

The compound is ionic — a metal (Al) bonded to a nonmetal (Cl). All ionic compounds are solids at room temperature and pressure. Aluminum has 13 electrons. As an ion, it will lose 3 electrons to become isoelectronic with neon. Thus the aluminum ion will have the electronic configuration ls22s22p6. 

Figure 11.1 Simple model of valency and bonding. The sodium atom (Z = 11) has electronic configuration ls22s22p63s1, drawn simply as (2, 8, 1) (i.e., showing all the n = 2 electrons as a single orbital). Chlorine (Z = 17) is s22s22p63s23p5, drawn as (2, 8, 7). In bonding to form the ionic compound NaCl, the outer (3s) electron of Na is donated to the outer orbital of Cl, giving both a full outer orbital of eight electrons, and leaving the sodium one electron short (i.e., the Na+ ion) and chlorine one extra (Cl-).

Magnesium reacts with element X to form an ionic compound. If the ground-state electron configuration of Xis Is 2s 2p, what is the simplest formula for this compound ... 

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