The effective atomic number (EAN) is a concept used to estimate the oxidation state of a transition metal complex based on the assumption that the metal and ligands achieve a noble gas electron configuration.
In the case of Tc2(CO)10, which refers to the compound with two technetium (Tc) atoms coordinated to ten carbon monoxide (CO) ligands, we can calculate the effective atomic number using the following steps:
Determine the electron count for each ligand: Carbon monoxide (CO) is a neutral ligand that donates a lone pair of electrons to the metal center. Therefore, each CO ligand contributes 2 electrons (one from carbon and one from oxygen) for a total of 20 electrons.
Determine the electron count for the metal center: Technetium (Tc) has an atomic number of 43. However, technetium can exhibit various oxidation states. In this case, we need to determine the oxidation state of the technetium in the complex.
To determine the oxidation state, we can assume that each CO ligand donates two electrons to the metal center, and we have a total of 10 CO ligands. Therefore, the electron count from the ligands is 2 electrons per ligand * 10 ligands = 20 electrons.
Now, subtracting the electron count from the ligands (20 electrons) from the atomic number of technetium (43) will give us the electron count for the metal center:
43 electrons - 20 electrons = 23 electrons
- Calculate the effective atomic number: The effective atomic number is the sum of the atomic number of the metal and the electron count for the metal center.
For Tc2(CO)10, the effective atomic number is:
43 (atomic number of technetium) + 23 (electron count for the metal center) = 66
Therefore, the effective atomic number of Tc2(CO)10 is 66.