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    Polarizing Power of Common Cations

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    This document provides a chart of common cations categorized by their polarizing power, which is a measure of their Lewis acidity in water calculated as charge divided by the square of the ionic radius. It then interprets the polarizing power ranges in terms of the cations' aqueous interactions and solubility with different anions. Cations with higher polarizing power form stronger covalent bonds and are less soluble or unstable in solution. Exceptions noted are soft metal cations that preferentially form covalent bonds with soft anions.

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    Polarizing Power of Common Cations

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    This document provides a chart of common cations categorized by their polarizing power, which is a measure of their Lewis acidity in water calculated as charge divided by the square of the ionic radius. It then interprets the polarizing power ranges in terms of the cations' aqueous interactions and solubility with different anions. Cations with higher polarizing power form stronger covalent bonds and are less soluble or unstable in solution. Exceptions noted are soft metal cations that preferentially form covalent bonds with soft anions.

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    This document provides a chart of common cations categorized by their polarizing power, which is a measure of their Lewis acidity in water calculated as charge divided by the square of the ionic radius. It then interprets the polarizing power ranges in terms of the cations' aqueous interactions and solubility with different anions. Cations with higher polarizing power form stronger covalent bonds and are less soluble or unstable in solution. Exceptions noted are soft metal cations that preferentially form covalent bonds with soft anions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    31 views1 page

    Polarizing Power of Common Cations

    Uploaded by

    iPad Youtube
    This document provides a chart of common cations categorized by their polarizing power, which is a measure of their Lewis acidity in water calculated as charge divided by the square of the ionic radius. It then interprets the polarizing power ranges in terms of the cations' aqueous interactions and solubility with different anions. Cations with higher polarizing power form stronger covalent bonds and are less soluble or unstable in solution. Exceptions noted are soft metal cations that preferentially form covalent bonds with soft anions.

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    of 1

    Polarizing Power of Common Cations, in (Charge)/(Ionic Radius in Å)2

    Li+ Be2+
    1.7 10
    Na+ Mg2+ Al3+
    1.0 3.9 10
    K+ Ca2+ Sc3+ Ti3+ V2+ Cr2+ 3.8 Mn2+ Fe2+ 3.3 Co2+ 3.6 Ni2+ Cu+ 1.7 Zn2+ Ga3+
    0.5 2.0 5.4 6.7 4.9 Cr3+ 7.9 4.5 Fe3+ 9.9 Co3+ 10 4.2 Cu2+ 3.8 3.7 7.8
    Rb+ Sr2+ Ag+ 0.8 Cd2+ In3+ Sn2+ 1.4
    0.4 1.5 2.2 4.7 Sn4+ 8.4
    Cs+ Ba2+ Au+ 0.5 Hg+ 0.7 Tl+ Pb2+ 1.4
    0.4 1.1 Au3+ 4.1 Hg2+ 1.9 0.4 Pb4+ 6.7

    Polarizing Power Interpretation Solubility


    0.0-1.0 Spectator ion. Negligible Lewis Acidity to water. Generally very soluble with all anions*
    1.1-2.0 Very weak aqueous interactions. Generally soluble, solubility limited with small -1
    ions.† Insoluble with -2 and -3 ions.
    2.1-5.0 Strongly polarizing. Notable increase in acidity of Somewhat soluble with -1 anions, insoluble with small
    aqueous solutions. Significant covalent bonding -1 anions (OH-, F-) and -2 and -3 anions.
    5.1-10 Very polarizing and covalent. Somewhat soluble (if at all) only with large -1 anions.
    Describing these as ions is problematic. Often unstable in solution.
    > 10 Oh, give it up. That’s not an ion. Generally insoluble unless a molecular substance.

    *Note that the “soft” purple and blue ions to the right of the periodic table are almost always insoluble in their interactions with soft
    anions (S2-, Cl-, Br-, I-, SO42-, to a lesser extent CO32-) because they form good soft-soft covalent interactions and are poorly solvated by
    water. They therefore act as exceptions to the general rule “If one or both ions are + or -1, it’s soluble, otherwise it’s not”.
    †
    Small ions: Because of their small size, these act as if they were one charge higher: OH-, F- (both act like -2), O2- (acts like -3)

    The cutoff for this chart was a ratio > 10, which is why Si4+, B3+, etc. are not included. These species bind very covalently.

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