How do I write the overall reaction for the reaction of hexaaquacobalt(II) chloride with sodium thiosulfate and ethylenediamine in the presence of "HCl"HCl to form tris(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) chloride and sodium bisulfate?

Did I do the first step right?

["Co"("OH"_2)_6]"Cl"_2 + 3("en") -> ["Co"("en")_3]"Cl"_2 + 6"H"_2"O"[Co(OH2)6]Cl2+3(en)[Co(en)3]Cl2+6H2O

Is sodium thiosulfate "Na"_2"S"_2"O"_7Na2S2O7?

1 Answer
Nov 24, 2015

Na_2S_2O_7Na2S2O7 exists (sodium pyrosulfate), but it's not very stable.


Yeah, the first step's fine. That happens since en is a stronger-field ligand than water. You need to oxidize cobalt(II) to cobalt(III), and you need to explain where you got your third chloride and your extra water at the end. So let's see...

[Co(OH_2)_6]Cl_2 + 3(en) -> [Co(en)_3]Cl_2 + 6H_2O[Co(OH2)6]Cl2+3(en)[Co(en)3]Cl2+6H2O

Here, you've added ethylenediamine to exchange with the aqua ligands.

Since water is now in solution, your Na_2S_2O_8Na2S2O8 should dissolve just fine, leaving S_2O_8^(2-)S2O28 and 2Na^(+)2Na+, where S_2O_8^(2-)S2O28 as mentioned is an oxidant, so it gets reduced.

Let's write the reduction reaction for it (including chloride).

S_2O_8^(2-) + 2HCl + 2e^(-) -> 2HSO_4^(-) + 2Cl^(-)S2O28+2HCl+2e2HSO4+2Cl

Persulfate hydrolyzes under acidic conditions to form bisulfate. Meanwhile, cobalt(II) is supposed to get oxidized to cobalt(III).

2([Co(en)_3]Cl_2 + Cl^(-) -> [Co(en)_3]Cl_3 + e^(-))2([Co(en)3]Cl2+Cl[Co(en)3]Cl3+e)

So, you've accounted for how you acquired a third chloride (where else would it come from?). And the remaining sodium ions react:

2Na^(+) + 2HSO_4^(-) -> 2NaHSO_42Na++2HSO42NaHSO4

Let's see where we are... we need to double the quantities in the first step now to account for the two tris(ethylaminediamine)cobalt(II) chlorides we reacted in step 3.

Cancel out intermediates...

\mathbf(2)([Co(OH_2)_6]Cl_2 + 3(en) -> cancel([Co(en)_3]Cl_2) + 6H_2O)

S_2O_8^(2-) + 2HCl + cancel(2e^(-)) -> 2HSO_4^(-) + cancel(2Cl^(-))

cancel(2[Co(en)_3]Cl_2) + cancel(2Cl^(-)) -> 2[Co(en)_3]Cl_3 + cancel(2e^(-))

and I think we have it. Adding in the sodium on both sides...

color(blue)(2[Co(OH_2)_6]Cl_2 + 6(en) + Na_2S_2O_8 + 2HCl -> )
color(blue)(2[Co(en)_3]Cl_3 + 12H_2O + 2NaHSO_4)

As for the extra water in the product, I'm not sure. Maybe one of the water molecules on the product side comes near, giving:

2[Co(OH_2)_6]Cl_2 + 6(en) + Na_2S_2O_8 + 2HCl ->
2[Co(en)_3]Cl_3cdotH_2O + 10H_2O + 2NaHSO_4

It wouldn't bind though, because cobalt has already occupied all six of its binding sites.