Inorganic chem. HW

You should see a lot of atoms: vanadium (V) is blue, oxygen (O) is red, sodium (Na) is yellow. The red networks are therefore the decavanadate polyoxometalate with the formula [V10O28]6-. This means there are six Na+ charge-balancing cations for each decavanadate (V10 for short).

1. using this bond information and examining the structure, write a paragraph how the polyhedral geometry of V1 and V2 differ. In this paragraph, you can include: a) discussion about which one has a ‘metal-oxo’ (V-O double bond) and which one doesn’t, b) what orbitals are used to make that double bond and why, and c) how the double bond (vs. no double bond) affects the overall polyhedra shape, d) sketches of the V1 and V2 polyhedra, illustrating the differences based on bond lengths.

2. Now do the same for Na3 that you did for V1 and V2 above (first label and locate in the image), then make a list of the Na-O bond distances. Which, on average, has longer bonds to oxygen, V, or Na? Why? (hint: consider oxidation states of the metals).