Cobalt complexes essay

In the second experiment the coordination around cobalt is changing from an octahedral to a tetrahedral complex. The different colours of these transition metals are caused by the excitation of the d electron to another d subshell. The 3d orbitals split in eg and t2g.

Cobalt forms a complex since it has an empty valency shell orbital therefore it is an negatron brace acceptor. It can donate negatrons from the ligands therefore organizing a coordination compound.

The decolourising charcoal is used as the catalyst of the reaction to give high yields in a relatively short time. The activated charcoal increases the speed of the reaction by helping in the formation of the bonds between NH3 and conveniently, it also catalyzes the transformation of Co2+ into Co3+ by the hydrogen peroxide.

The Co (III) can show also isomerism. Co (III) is expected to be paramagnetic but the cross over from high spin to low spin takes place at very long ligand field strengths and therefore it is more likely to be diamagnetic. Cobalt (III) complexes are described as kinetically inert and undergo ligand exchange very slowly.