Hello all,
I am having a little trouble with the question below. I have used the estimated standard deviations in brackets to determine which V-O bonds are statistically different but I don't know how to assign the oxygen atoms to the correct positions in the metal's octahedral coordination sphere.
Many thanks in advance.
Question
The ion [V(O)(H2O)5]2+ is characterized in an X-ray crystallographic experiment
as exhibiting six vanadium-oxygen bond lengths (Å).
V-O(l) 2.103(8 )
V-O(2) 2.126(9)
V-O(3) 2.249(8 )
V-O(4) 1.848(9)
V-O(5) 2.085(9)
V-O(6) 2.154(9)
Comment on these bond lengths and assign the oxygen atoms to the correct
positions in the metal's octahedral coordination sphere, providing an explanation
for the placement of each oxygen atom. Comment on the bonding of the ligands
to the vanadium.
Show us what you have done so far with your calculations, I can see two bond lengths which stand out from the rest
For each V-O bond I was first advised to work out a range of : length ± 3σ to determine which bonds are statistically significantly different by comparing the bonds pairwise.
So worked out that:
V-O(1) and V-O (2) are
indistinguishable V-O (1) and V-O(3) are distinguishable
V-O (1) and V-O (4) are distinguishable
V-O (1) and V-O (5) are
indistinguishable V-O (1) and V-O (6) are distinguishable
V-O (2) and V-O(3) are distinguishable
V-O (2) and V-O (4) are distinguishable
V-O (2) and V-O(5) are distinguishable
V-O (2) and V-O (6) are distinguishable
V-O (3) and V-O (4) are distinguishable
V-O (3) and V-O(5) are distinguishable
V-O (3) and V-O (6) are distinguishable
V-O (4) and V-O(5) are distinguishable
V-O (4) and V-O (6) are distinguishable
V-O (5) and V-O (6) are distinguishable
So there are only two pairs of bonds that are not statistically significantly different. So how can I use that information to assign the oxygen atoms to the correct positions in the metal's octahedral coordination sphere?
Thanks!