TRANSITION ELEMENTS.

Transition elements are all metals of economic importance. They are found in the d-block of the periodic
table between Groups 2 and 3. They occupy three rows, with ten elements in each row. The term
transition elements refer only to an element which has partially filled d- orbitals.

First transition series.

The first transition series from scandium to zinc is particularly important in industry. This series of ten d
– block metals occur in period 4. Potassium and calcium are the s- block metal in the period. They form a
transition in the properties between the highly electropositive s- block metals and the electronegative
elements of the p – block.

The electronic configuration of the first transition series.

The electronic configuration of the first ten elements of the transition series is listed below:

ELEMENT SYMBOL ATOMIC NUMBER ELECTRONIC CONFIC CONFIGURATION

K L M N
Scandium Sc 21 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d1 4S2
Titanium Ti 22 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d2 4S2
Vanadium V 23 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d3 4S2
Chromium Cr 24 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d5 4S1
Manganese Mn 25 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d5 4S2
Iron Fe 26 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d6 4S2
Cobalt Co 27 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d7 4S2
Nickel Ni 28 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d8 4S2
Copper Cu 29 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d10 4S1
zinc Zn 30 1S2 2S22P6 3S2 3P6 3d10 4S2

After calcium, (electronic configuration: 1S2 2S22P63S23P64S2), there is a change in the filling of the
subsidiary energy level and the inner 3d shell (which contain a maximum of ten electrons) is filled with
electrons before beginning to fill the 4S subshell. The energy difference between the 4s and 3d- orbitals
is small so that the electrons are readily transferred from one orbital to the other. This means that the 4s
orbital is filled in preference to the five 3d orbitals. This indicates that the 4s orbital has lower energy than
the 3d orbital.

The anomalies should be observed in the electronic configuration of first transition series. Both chromium
and copper have one electron each in their 4s orbital. This is because half – filled or completely filled sub
-shells are more stable than partially filled sub – shells. In the case of chromium, each of the five orbitals
in the 3d sub shell of m -shell contains a single electron. The sub – shell is thus half filled. In copper atom,
the 3d orbitals are completely filled.

Physical Properties.

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Transition elements or d block elements are all metals.

1. They hard metals compared to the s – block metals.

2. They have high tensile strength.
3. They are ductile.
4. Transition elements have high melting and boiling points.
5. They have strong metallic bonding.
6. They are good conductors of heat and electricity.
Chemical properties

1. Chemical reactivity: the chemical properties of the elements in the same period in s and p-
blocks often vary markedly, from left to right. This does not happen with the transition metals
because electrons are added progressively to the inner d – orbitals, not the outermost
orbitals, as in the s – block and p - block elements.

The nuclei of the of the transition metals exerts a greater attraction on their electrons than
the nuclei of s – block metals. So, the s -block elements have lower ionization energy and are
more reactive than the transition metals.
Generally, transition metals are moderately reactive. The reactivity decreases across the
period due to corresponding increase in value of ionization energies.

2. Variable oxidation states: transition metals have variable oxidation states because the
electrons in 3d orbitals are available for bond formation. For example, manganese with the
following electronic configuration

1S22S22P63S23P63d54S2

Can lose

• Two 4s electrons to give a +2 oxidation states as in MnO,

• Two 4s and two 3d electrons to give a +4-oxidation state as in MnO2,
• Two 4s and four 3d electrons to give a +6-oxidation state as in MnO42-
• Two 4s and five 3d electrons to give a +7-oxidation state as in MnO42-
In addition, the differences in the successive ionization energies of transition metals are small.
This allows the formation of stable ions at each stage.

3. Complex ion formation: a complex ion has a central positive ion linked to several other atoms,
ions or molecules called ligands. The bonding between the metal ion and the ligands may
largely be electrovalent or coordinate.
An example of complex ion is blue tetraamine copper(II) ion, [Cu(NH3)4]2+, in which the central
copper (II) ion is linked by coordinate bonding to four ammonia molecules.
Transition metals complex ions usually have four or six ligands. When complex ions has six
ligands, the ligands are arranged octahedrally around the central metal ion as in
hexacyanoferrate (III) ion [Fe(CN)6]3-. When four ligands are present, they may be arranged
tetrahedrally as in tetraamine zinc (II) ion, or at the corner of a square as in as in tetraamine
copper (II) ion.

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 The electrons donated by the ligands usually fill up the in complete d orbitals, and the 4s and
4p orbitals in the central transition metal ion.
All transition metals ions tend to form complex ions with water. These hydrated ions are
usually unstable.

4. Formation of coloured compounds: transition metallic ions are usually coloured which is a
guide in identifying a compound. The colours are as a result of the partially filled 3d orbitals
(i.e. 3d1 to 3d9) zinc and scandium ions colourless since they do not have partially filled 3d
orbitals. In the complex ions, the nature of the ligands also contributes to the colour.
5. Catalytic activities: transition elements and their compounds are very effective as catalysts.
The ease with which the ions of transition elements change their oxidation state and the
partially filled 3d orbitals which allows the exchange of electrons to and from molecules
enable them acts as catalyst.