Given: Fe(C2O4)3^3- The Fe^3+ center is surrounded by three oxalate anions (C2O4^2-) that acts as bidentate ligands
What is the electron config of an isolated Fe atom (no ligand bound to it)? and what is the electron config of an isolated Fe^3+ cation?
http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Fe/econ.html
To determine the electron configuration of an isolated Fe atom, we will refer to the periodic table. Iron (Fe) is an element found in the d-block transition metals. It has an atomic number of 26, meaning it has 26 electrons.
The electron configuration of an isolated Fe atom can be determined by following the Aufbau principle, which states that electrons fill the lowest energy levels first. The electron configuration for Fe can be written as:
1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d⁶
Now, when Fe forms a Fe^3+ cation, it donates three electrons to achieve a stable electron configuration. This means that three electrons are removed from the 4s and 3d orbitals. Therefore, the electron configuration for Fe^3+ can be written as:
1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d⁵
In summary, the electron configuration for an isolated Fe atom is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d⁶, and the electron configuration for an isolated Fe^3+ cation is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d⁵.