Question

Draw a pictorial representation of the bonding and back bonding between a d-block metal and a ethylene molecule (η 2 -bound through the carbon atoms). Label the relevant orbitals and their interactions.

Answer 1

= 2 means the metal is bonded to 2 carbon atoms of the C=C/ C=O/C=N of the ethene. the orbital shapes are shown below.

CO has antibonding moelcular orbital . metal with filled d orbital , eg . Fe, Cu etc

while C=C has filled molelcular orbital. metal with empty d orbital , eg . Sc, V etc