Topic 4 Inorganic chemistry and the periodic table

Types of inorganic reaction

Thermal decomposition

Name for reaction when compound decomposes on heating

Examples

 Metal carbonates except those containing group 1 metals

 Metal nitrates
 Hydrated compounds

Reactions of acids and alkali

Acid + water

 React to produce aq H+ ions

Alkali + water

 React to produce OH- ions

Acid + metal

 Acid + metal = metal salt + hydrogen

Acid + metal oxide

 Acid + metal oxide = metal salt + water

Acid + metal hydroxide

 Acid + metal hydroxide = metal salt + water

 All neutralisation reactions can be simplified to

Acid + carbonate

acid + carbonate → salt + water + carbon dioxide

Ionic precipitation reactions

 Reaction producing solid precipitate on mixing two solutions containing ions

 Positive ions from one solution combine with negative ions from other solution = form insoluble precipitate

Solubility rules
Group 1 – the alkali metals

Characteristics

 1 outer electron in s orbital

 Have 1+ oxidation state = powerful reducing agents
 Reactivity increases down the group
 Reacts with chorine to form colourless, ionic chlorides – soluble in water

Properties

Group 1 hydroxides

 White solids
 Soluble in water = forms alkaline solutions – solubility increases down group
 Strong bases as fully ionise in water giving solutions containing OH- ions

Group 1 carbonates

 White
 Dissolve in water – unusual
 Alkaline – carbonate ions remove H+ ions from H20 to form hydrogen carbonate ions + OH- ions
 Most do not decompose on heating

Group 1 nitrates

 White crystalline solids

 Very soluble in water
 Especially Na + K = hard to decompose
 Mainly only decompose to metal nitrite + oxygen

Sodium and potassium compounds as chemical reagents

 Widely used as:

- ions are unreactive = acts as spectator ions
- Soluble in water – including their hydroxides / carbonates
- Ions = colourless in aq solutions = do not interfere with colour changes

Flame test

 Help detect metal ion

How does it work

- Heat causes electron to move to higher energy level

- Electron = unstable at higher energy level = drops back down
- As drops = energy = emitted in form of visible light energy with the wavelength of observed light

Group 2 – the alkaline earth metals

Trends
  Reactivity increases down the group
 1st + 2nd ionization energies decrease down the group
 Mp decrease down group
- Metallic bonds weakens as atomic radius increases
- Distance between positive ions + delocalised electron increase = attractive forces between them
weakens
 Has 2+ as oxidation state

Reactions of the group 2 metals

Reactions with oxygen

Reaction with water

Mg to Ba react with water

Rate of reaction increases down the group

- Mg = slowly in cold water much faster in steam

- Reactivity increases so that e.g. barium reacts fast with cold water + hydroxide becomes more soluble

Reactions with chlorine

All react with chlorine to from white chlorides

Properties of the compounds of group 2 metals

The oxides

Basic oxides

- Metal oxide that will react with acid to form salt + water
- Oxide ion acts as base by taking H+ from acid
 Oxide + water = hydroxide

The hydroxides

 Soluble to some degree forming alkaline solutions

 Solubility increases down the group
 Metalhydroxide + acid = metalsalt + water

The carbonates

 Insoluble in water
 React with dilute acids
 Decompose on heating to give metal oxide + carbon dioxide
- More difficult to decompose down the group = become more thermally stable

The nitrates

 Very soluble in water

 Decompose to metal oxide + nitrogendioxide + oxygen on heating
- More difficult to decompose down the group

The sulfates

 Become less soluble down group

Thermal stability of the carbonates and nitrates

Definition

Indication of the ease with which compounds decompose on heating

Equation for decomposition

Metalcarbonate = metal oxide + carbon dioxide

Metalnitrates = metal oxide + nitrogendioxide + oxygen

Factors affecting it

 Charge on metal ion

- Larger charge = less stable
 Size of metal ion
- Smaller = less stable

Trends

More stable down group as ions becomes larger

More difficult to decompose down group

Explanation for it

In terms of polarising power

- Indication of the extent to which a positive ion is able to distort the electron cloud around the
neighbouring negative ion. Larger charge on ion + smaller size = greater charge density = stronger
polarising power
 Metal ion with higher polarising power attracts bonding electrons in neighbouring ions more strongly
 Pull on the electrons of ion (e.g. carbonate ion) distorts bonding + makes easier to break up negative ion into
ion oxide + carbon dioxide
 Down group 2 charge stays same but ionic radius increases = charge density decreases = polarising ability
decreases = thermal stability increases

Group 7 the Halogens

Trends

Mp + bp

Increase down group

- Molecule becomes larger = more electrons = more + bigger London forces = more energy needed

Electronegativity

Relative Tendency of atom in a molecule to attract electrons in a covalent bond towards itself

Decreases down group – atomic radii increase = nucleus less bale to attract bonding pair

Reactivity

Decreases down group

2 reasons

1 = electron reason (gcse)

2 = redox reactions
Solubility

 Dissolve freely in organic solvents

 Less soluble in water – chlorine + bromine dissolves but Iodine does not

Reactions of the group 7 elements

Reaction with s-block metals

Chlorine + bromine

 Form ionic halides – halogen gains electron to fill outermost p – subshell

Iodine

 Iodide ion = very large + very polarising = when react with small cations / highly charged cations = form
covalent bond
 Forms iodides

All also react with most metals in d-block

Reaction with Fe2+ ions

 Chlorine + bromine = can oxidise it to Fe3+

 Iodine = too weak of an oxidising agent

Reaction with non-metal

 Reacts with most to form molecular chlorides / bromides / iodides

 Burns in hydrogen
 Chlorine does not react directly with carbon/oxygen/nitrogen

Halogens in oxidation state -1

Halide ions

 Ions of halogen elements

How to distinguish between them

Add silver nitrate solution

 Silver fluoride is soluble = no precipitate on

adding silver nitrate
Reaction with concentrated sulfuric acid

= trend in power of halide ions to act as reducing agent

I – Br – Cl

= trend in power of halide ions to act as oxidizing agent

Cl – Br – I

Hydrogen halides

How are they similar

 Colourless gases at room temp which fume in moist air

 Very soluble in water forming acidic solutions
 Strong acids = ionize fully in water
 Polar molecules

Mix with ammonia

 Produces white smoke of ammonium salt

 Ammonia molecules turn into ammonium ions
 Acts as a base by accepting hydrogen ions from hydrogen halides

Halogens in oxidation states +1 and +5

Chlorine + water

 Reacts reversely
 Forms mixture of weak chloric acid + strong HCl
 = example of disproportionation reaction

Bromine reacts in similar way but to much lesser extent

Iodine = insoluble = hardly reacts

Chlorine + cold alkali

Dissolves to produce chlorate (I) (sodium chlorate = active ingredient in household bleach) + chloride ions

Chlorine + hot alkali

Disproportionate to chlorate (v) and chloride ions

Bromine + iodine react in similar way

BrO - and IO- ions = less stable = disproportionate at lower temperature