Within a periodic group of transition elements the possibility of exhibiting maximum oxidation state increases with atomic number. Why?
The stable oxidation state of transition element with the d electron configuration in ground state of atoms are as follows:
S. No. d-electron |
configuration |
Symbol of element |
Stable oxidation states |
1. 2. 3. 4. |
3d3 3d4 3d5 3d8 |
Vanadium[V](4s23d3) Chromium Cr(4s23d4) Manganes Mn(4s23d5) Nickel Ni(4s23d8) |
+2, +3, +5 +2, +3, +6 +2,+7 +2,+4 |
It should be noted that lower stable oxidation state generally leads to ionic bond and higher oxidation state corresponds to covalent bond.