• Be – Beryllium;  

Mg – Magnesium; Ca-Calcium; Sr- Strontium; 

Ba- Barium; Ra- Radium
• The oxides of calcium, strontium and barium are known much
earlier than the metals themselves and they are known as
alkaline earth metals since they were alkaline and existed in
earth
• Radium is radioactive in nature.
• They posses valence shell configuration of ns2.
Element At. No. Electronic Configuration
Be 4 [He] 2s2
Mg 12 [Ne] 3s2
Ca 20 [Ar] 4s2
Sr 38 [Kr] 5s2
Ba 56 [Xe] 6s2
Ra 88 [Rn] 7s2
Metallic Properties
• They are typical metals and show good metallic lustre and
high electrical as well as thermal conductivity
Hardness
• They are harder than alkali metals.
Molar Volume
• It increases regularly on moving from Be to Ra.
Density
• It decreases slightly on moving upto calcium but it increases
considerably thereafter upto Ra.
• They are considerably denser than Group 1 metals.
M.P. and B.P.
• They do not show regular trend
Atomic and Ionic radii
• These are smaller than the corresponding elements of group 1.
• Atomic and ionic radii increase on moving down the group,
due to presence of an extra shell of electrons as we down
from one to other element with in the group.
• Ionic radii of alkali metals are thus smaller than
corresponding atomic radii because they change into ion by
loss of s electron of outer shell, charge on nucleus become
greater to attract all electrons towards itself.
Heat of Atomisation
• It falls considerably on moving from Be to Mg. The
subsequent change is rather small.
• This shows that M-M bond strength is maximum in case of
Be.
Ionization Energy
• The First as well as second IE decreases on moving from Be to Ba.
• The IE is slightly higher than Ba. But yet no satisfactory explanation
have been offered.
Element (IE1+IE2) in kJ/mol
Be 899.3
Mg 737.6
Ca 589.8
Sr 549.3
Ba 502.6
Ra 509.0
Hydration of Ions
• Extent of hydration of alkaline earth metal cations
decreases with increase in atomic number and molar
mass.
Electropositive character
• Due to low I. E. they have strong tendency to show
electropositive character. Since I. E. decreases down the
group, elctropositive character increases on moving down
the group .
M → M2+ + 2e-
• They do not emit electrons on exposure to light.
Oxidation State
• They exhibit an oxidation state of +2. They lose their
outermost electron easily.
Reducing Properties. Oxidation potentials
• All the alkaline earth metals have a tendency to
release electrons and change to bivalent cations.
M ⇌ M2+ + 2e-
• Hence they are strong reducing agents. The oxidation
potentials are lower than Group 1.
Element Oxidation Standard Oxidation Potentials (volts)
Reaction
Be Be→ Be2+ + 2e- 1.85
Mg Mg→ Mg2+ + 2e- 2.37
Ca Ca→ Ca2+ + 2e- 2.87
Sr Sr→ Sr2+ + 2e- 2.89
Ba Ba→ Ba2+ + 2e- 2.90
Electronegativity
• Each of these elements has a very low
electronegativity when compared with fluorine, and
the electronegativity decrease from Be to Ba.

Element Electronegativity (on Pauling scale)

Be 1.5
Mg 1.3
Ca 1.0
Sr 1.0
Ba 0.9
Ra 0.9
Flame Colouration
Colour of the flame on Bunsen burner are
Be, Mg: None
Ca: Brick red
Sr: Crimson
Ba: Grassy Green
Ra: Crimson
Be and Mg are small, hence the electrons are strongly
held. Hence, these are not excited by the energy of the
flame to higher energy states. So, these elements do
not give colour in Bunsen flame.
Chemical Properties
Action of Air and Water
• Being less electropositive than Group 1 elements, these
elements are less electropositive and hence less reactive.
• Thus, they are only slowly oxidised on exposure to air.
• However, they burn in oxygen to form ionic oxides MO.
• However, calcium burns in air to give a mixture of CaO and
Ca3N2.
• These metals react slowly with water liberating hydrogen and
forming metal hydroxide.
• Beryllium doesn’t react with water at all.
• Magnesium reacts with hot water.
• Other metals react with cold water but not as energetically as
the Group 1 metals.
Action with hydrogen
• All elements except Be reacts with hydrogen to form hydride
of formula MH2.
BeCl2 + LiAlH4 → BeH2 + LiCl + AlCl3
• BeH2 and MgH2 are covalent while CaH2, SrH2 and BaH2 are
largely ionic compounds.
Action of Halogens
• They react with halogens at elevated temperature form
halides of formula MX2.
• BeX2 are covalent while rest are electrovalent and readily
soluble in water.
• The solubility of halides except fluorides decrease on
moving down the group.
Action of acids
• They liberate H2 gas from dilute acids.
• Be reacts very slowly as its oxidation potential is
low.
Action with Nitrogen
• These elements burn in nitrogen to form nitrides
M3N2 which reacts with water to liberate NH3.
Ca+N2 → Ca3N2
Ca3N2 + H2O → Ca(OH)2 + NH3
Complex Formation Tendency
• They do not form many coordination complexes.
• However, Be due to its small size gives a number of stable
complexes [BeF3]- and [BeF4]2-.
• The tendency to undergo complexation decreases on
moving down the group.
Comparison of Be with other members of family
• Tendency to form ionic compounds: Be do not form ionic compounds
readily as it possess very high IE (899 kJ mol-1).
• Tendency to form covalent compounds: The compounds of Be are more
covalent than other elements of group.
• Reaction with water: Do not react with water even at elevated
temperature.
• Oxidation Potential: Be possess lowest oxidation potential. Consequently
BeO and Be(OH)2 are not at all basic in nature. They are infact amphoteric
in nature. The oxides and hydroxides of other elements are basic in nature.
• Reaction with acids: Be do not liberate H2 readily while other do so readily.
• Reaction with Hydrogen: Be doesn’t combine with H2 directly while others
do so.
• Formation of Carbides: Beryllium carbide evolve methane while CaC2
liberate acetylene on reaction with water.
Diagonal Relationship Between Ba and Al
• Both metals have the tendency to form covalent
compounds.
• Both are rendered passive on treatment with
concentrated HNO3.
• BeCl2 and AlCl3 act as lewis acids and use in friedal crafts
catalyst
• Both metals dissolves in alkalies to form soluble
complexes beryllates and aluminates
• The oxides of both are hard, high melting insoluble solids
• The oxides and hydroxides of both are amphoteric in
nature.
• Carbides of both the metals react with water Liberating
methane gas.
Solubility Trend of Hydroxides and Sulphates

• Group II metal hydroxides become more soluble in water as

you go down the column.
Be(OH)2 < Mg(OH)2 < Ca(OH)2 < Sr(OH)2 < Ba(OH)2
• The sulfates become less soluble down the group.
BeSO4 > MgSO4 > CaSO4 > SrSO4 > BaSO4 > RaSO4
Hydroxides Ksp Sulphates Ksp

Be(OH)2 1.6 x 10-26 BeSO4 Very High

Mg(OH)2 8.9 x 10-12 MgSO4 High

Ca(OH)2 1.3 x 10-4 CaSO4 2.4 x 10-5

Sr(OH)2 3.2 x 10-4 SrSO4 7.6 x 10-7

Ba(OH)2 5.4 x 10-2 BaSO4 1.5 x 10-9

RaSO4 4.0 x 10-11

Solubility of ionic solids depends on two factors
1. Lattice Energy
2. Hydration Energy
• In case of sulphates of group 2, the lattice energies
are about the same. The sulphate ion itself is large
(3.0 Å) that relatively small changes in metallic
cationic sizes from Be2+ to Ba2+ do not make any
difference.
• However, the hydration energies of the metal
cations from Be2+ to Ba2+ decreases in the order
Be2+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > Sr2+ > Ba2+ > Ra2+
Hence, the solubility of sulphates decreases on
moving from BeSO4 to RaSO4
• In the case of hydroxides, the lattice energies are
different because OH- ion is not large and hence even
small changes in metallic sizes make significant
differences.

• Thus, as the metal’s ionic size increases on moving from

Be to Ba, the lattice energy decreases.
• This tends to enhance the solubility and to overcome
the counter-effect produced by the decrease in
hydration energy.
• Hence the solubility of hydroxides increases on moving
down the group.
Complexes of Group 2 Elements

Basic Beryllium Acetate

• It can be prepared by treating basic beryllium carbonate with hot
acetic acid.
2 Be2CO3(OH)2 + 6 AcOH → Be4O(AcO)6 + 5 H2O + 2 CO2
• Basic beryllium acetate is insoluble in water but soluble in
chloroform, consistent with it being nonpolar. It melts and
sublimes in a vacuum without decomposition.
 O 2- 2-

O O F
O
Be
F
O
O Be
F
F
O
O

F -

Be
F F
 Bu Bu

O Be O

Bu Bu
C(CF3)3

O
(F3C)3CO Be Be OC(CF3)3
O

C(CF3)3
Role of Mg2+ and Ca2+ in Biological System
• Magnesium is an important constituent of chlorophyll.
• Mg2+ ions are concentrated more in intracellular fluid in animal
bodies. Its presence is a necessary requirement for the
activation of phosphate transfer enzymes which participates in
the energy releasing biochemical process occurring in the
body.
• Mg2+ ions are also required for carbohydrate metabolism.
• Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions are also responsible for the transmission of
electrical impulses along the nerve fibre and for the formation
of muscle
• Ca2+ is essential for the formation of bones and teeth and for
maintaining heart rhythm and clotting of blood.
• The enamel of teeth is also a double salt of calcium
3Ca3(PO4)2.CaF2.
References

• Concise Inorganic Chemistry, 5th Edition, J.D. Lee.

• Principles of Inorganic Chemistry, B.R. Puri, L. R. Sharma and
K. C. Kalia