This document describes an experiment using proton NMR spectroscopy to study the aquation kinetics of trans-dichlorotetraamminecobalt(III) chloride. The reaction involves one chloride ligand being replaced by a water molecule. Kinetic analysis of NMR peak heights and integrals over time indicates the reaction is first-order. Arrhenius and Eyring parameters are determined and used to calculate the rate constant at 25°C, which agrees with literature values. The positive entropy of activation suggests an associative mechanism for this substitution reaction.

1. Version: March 3, 2010
Synthesis of a Cobalt(III) complex and
Variable Temperature Proton NMR Study of its Aquation Kinetics
[This experiment is new for 2010; your comments and suggestions are most welcome.]
Adapted from Orvis, J. A.; Dimetry, B.; Winge, J.; Mullis, T. C. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 8, 7, 803
Introduction:
Complexes of Co(III), including dichlorotetraamminecobalt(III), hold a venerable place in the
history of inorganic chemistry. Alfred Werner argued that octahedral arrangement of ligands can
explain the existence of the different isomers [Werner 1907]. This is described in his 1913
Nobel Prize lecture.
You will synthesize and study the kinetics of a reaction of the cobalt(III) complex, trans-
[Co(NH3)4 Cl2 ]Cl:
When this bright green complex is dissolved in water, it undergoes an aquation reaction: one
chloride ligand is replaced by a water molecule. The product salt is [Co(NH3)4(H2O)Cl]Cl2.
The kinetics of this reaction has been studied using a number of techniques (Tsuchida 1936;
Pearson 1955, Linck 1969, Borer 1994, Jackson 2006). While often called an acid-catalyzed
reaction, Linck observed little dependence of the rate constant with [H+
].
You will use proton NMR to study the kinetics of this reaction.
PROCEDURE
Synthesis of [Co(NH3)4CO3]NO3 (done by your instructor):
Dissolve 20.0 g of ammonium carbonate in 60.0 mL of water, and then add 60.0 mL of
concentrated aqueous ammonia. In a second container, dissolve 15.0 g of cobalt (II) nitrate
hexahydrate in 30.0 mL of water. While stirring, pour these two solutions together, and note any
color changes that may occur. Keep the mixture stirring by using a stir bar. SLOWLY, DROP
BY DROP, add 8.0 mL of the 30% hydrogen peroxide solution. If bubbling becomes too
vigorous cease additions until the solution settles down. Once the hydrogen peroxide has been
added, evaporate the solution to a volume of 90-100 mL. Turn up the heat on the stirring hot
plate, but do not let the solution boil. This will take some time, around an hour or so.
During the evaporation time, add about 5.0 g of ammonium carbonate to the solution. Add it in
small portions, say every ten minutes or so, making the 5.0 g last for the duration of the
evaporation step. When the solution volume is down to 90-100 mL, suction-filter the solution
and then cool the filtrate on ice. Red/purple crystals of product will form. Collect these crystals
by suction filtration, wash them with a few milliliters of ice-cold water and then ethanol, and
allow them to dry.
Co
NH3
NH3 NH3
NH3
Cl
Cl

2. Page 2
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: DAY ONE
Synthesis of trans-[Co(NH3)4 Cl2 ]Cl:
Note: Concentrated acid can cause severe burns. Wear gloves and wash any material spilled on
skin immediately. All procedures must be done in the fume hood.
Follow the procedure carefully. Temperature and timing are critical.
Prepare a hot oil bath set at 75-80°C. Weigh accurately about 1.0 g of [Co(NH3)4CO3]NO3.
Dissolve it in 5.0 mL of water in a 50.0 mL round-bottom flask. Insert a small stir bar and
mount a thermometer in the flask. Heat the solution to between 50 and 60°C with stirring. Add
3.3 mL of concentrated HCl very carefully over a period of 15 to 20 seconds. Do not let the
solution “boil” over. Heat with vigorous stirring. When the solution reaches about 60°C, start
looking for a dark green precipitate of trans-dichlorotetraamminecobalt(III).
After you begin to form product, continue stirring for five minutes. Cool the solution to room
temperature in an ice bath. Suction filter the crude product with a fritted glass funnel. Remove
the stirrer bar. Carefully rinse the green crystals with small portions of ice-cold water. Any
purple solid on the filter is probably cis-dichlorotetraamminecobalt(III) chloride. Keep rinsing
until all purple solid has been removed, leaving only green crystals. Wash the green crystals
with no more than 2.0 mL of ice-cold methanol and air-dry the product. Weigh the product.
Place the dried crystals in a stoppered vial.
If you would be interested to follow the kinetics by UV-Vis also, see Prof. Chapman for a
procedure to replace the following paragraph.
UV-Vis spectrum. Weigh 10-15 mg of your solid into a small vial. (Exact concentrations are
not important here, so weights and volumes can be approximate.) Since the product reacts
immediately when dissolved in water, work in the instrument room. Set up the Evolution 600
spectrophotometer to scan a low resolution spectrum (scan speed 60 nm/min) from 350 to
750 nm. With water in both cuvettes, scan the baseline. Add about 3 mL water to your sample,
mix, transfer to a cuvette, and scan. Wait about 20 minutes, and scan again.
Questions (to be answered before the second day of the experiment).
Q.1. What was the percent yield of your synthesis?
Q.2 You will be using proton NMR to monitor the reaction. The protons you will observe are
on the ammonia ligands. How many proton peaks would you expect to appear in the
reactant, trans-dichlorotetraamminecobalt(III).? Explain.
Q.3 In the aquation reaction, a water (actually a D2O) molecule replaces one chloride ligand.
Two isomers of the product are possible: the water and remaining chloride may be cis- or
trans- to each other. How many peaks would each have in proton NMR? Explain.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: DAY TWO
Detailed instructions for studying kinetics using 1D Proton NMR spectra on the Bruker Avance
300 are given on a separate sheet. You will do a kinetic run at one temperature assigned by your
instructor. You will then pool your data with that of others to explore temperature effects.
Since the reaction starts as soon as the sample is dissolved, sample preparation must be done in
the NMR room. Bring the following to the NMR room:
Stopwatch, a vial containing about 5 mg of your product, two sealed vials of D2O, two
NMR tubes, several Pasteur pipettes, a pipette filter, Kimwipes, and gloves.

3. Page 3
Study the procedure thoroughly and do all preliminary instrument settings before you dissolve
your sample. Unnecessary delays in the procedure will compromise the quality of your data.
Set up the instrument, including lock and shim, using a sample of D2O. Establish the
temperature and compile the kineticzg code with the appropriate time delay. Then mix your
sample, put it immediately into the NMR, and start kinetic runs.
When all your spectra are collected, process them using the Topspin software. Plot spectra
number 1, 6, 11, 16, and 21 on a single page. Which peak(s) show a clear progression in time?
Integrate the peaks at approximately 3.2, 3.7, 4.1, and 4.3 ppm. Since the peak at 4.1 ppm
overlaps considerably with its neighbors, set the range of integration between the small satellites
at about 3.9 and 4.2 ppm. Using manual peak picking, record the heights of the same four peaks.
(In some cases, a peak may disappear before the end of the run). Also record the times of the
spectra. Remove the sample, turn off the temperature setting, and shut down the instrument.
CALCULATIONS AND QUESTIONS
Q.4 What does the NMR spectrum of the aquation product tell you about its structure?
Kinetic analysis.
Prepare an Excel spreadsheet. Work separately with peak heights and peak integrals. Convert
clock times (e.g. 8:43:07) to elapsed times in seconds. Time t = 0 is when the D2O was first
added. Prepare plots of the values (heights or integrals) vs. time. Which peak gives a signal
(height or area) which is best for further kinetic analysis? Explain. For the remaining kinetic
analysis, you may focus on that one peak.
Let [R] be concentration of the reactant R. If n is the reaction order, possible rate laws include
–d[R]/dt = k[R]n
.
The analysis in this experiment is complicated by the fact that the NMR peaks overlap, so the
measured signal S (peak height or area) has contributions from both reactant and product. Let
S = a [R] + b [P]
where a and b are proportionality constants. In an isomerization reaction [R]0 = [R] + [P].
Substituting
S = a [R] + b {[R]0 –[R]} = (a–b) [R] + b [R]0.
Assuming that the reaction goes to completion, [R] = 0 when t = ∞, so S∞ = b [R]0,. Thus
(S – S∞) = (a–b) [R].
Therefore a quantity proportional to [R] used for kinetic analysis is (S – S∞). S∞ may be
determined as a fitting parameter. Add a cell to your spreadsheet for S∞, and guess an
approximate value based on your data and plot. Then prepare kinetic plots assuming zero, first,
and second order kinetics (n= 0, 1, or 2). Focusing on the result that appears closest to linear,
adjust S∞ to improve the linearity of fit. This may be done either by trial-and-error or using
Excel's solver; be sure to keep a record.
Q.5 What is the order of the reaction and what is the rate constant?
Do you need to know values for the parameters a and b above? Explain.
Q.6 Which analysis appears to be more reliable, integrals or peak heights? Why?

4. Page 4
Your rate constant k(T) will be combined with others to answer the following. Ask you
instructor where to obtain this data.
Q.7. The Arrhenius equation is k = A e–Ea/RT
. R is the gas constant. What are the Arrhenius
parameters, Ea and A, for this reaction?
Q.8 The Eyring equation is ln (k/T) = (–ΔH‡
/ RT) + (ΔS‡
/ R) + ln(kB/h). kB and h are the
Boltzmann and Planck constants, respectively. What are the Eyring parameters, ΔH‡
and
ΔS‡
, the enthalpy and entropy of activation respectively, for the reaction?
Q.9 Use you Arrhenius parameters to calculate k at 25°C. Compare with literature values.
[Tsuchida, Borer, Pearson, Linck, Jackson].
Additional questions
Q.10 What does the entropy of activation suggest about the mechanism of this reaction? Is this
consistent with what is generally observed in substitution reactions of octahedral Co(III)
complexes? [Huheey]
Q.11 What is the term symbol for the ground electronic state of the free ion Co3+
? The ground
electronic state of Co(NH)6
3+
and related compounds are singlet. Explain. [Harris]
Q.12 Discuss the UV-Vis spectrum of the reactant cation, trans-Co(NH3)4Cl2
+
. What electronic
transitions are involved? You answer should include a discussion of the orbitals occupied
by the d electrons on cobalt and the corresponding states. How would the UV-Vis spectra
of the cis- and trans- aquation products differ? [Cotton; Harris]
Q.13 Comment on the stereochemistry of the product, and how it relates to the mechanism of the
reaction. [Jackson]

5. Page 5
REFERENCES
Orvis, J. A.; Dimetry, B.; Winge, J.; Mullis, T. C. “Studying a Ligand Substitution Reaction with
Variable Temperature 1
H NMR Spectroscopy: An Experiment for Undergraduate Inorganic
Chemistry Students.” J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 803
Werner, Alfred, “Über l.2-Dichloro-tetraammin-kobaltisalse (Ammoniak violeosalze)” Berichte
d. D. Chem. Gesellschaff. 1907, 40, 4817-4825.
Werner’s Nobel Lecture (1913) [online]:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1913/werner-lecture.pdf
Cotton, F. Albert and Wilkinson, Geoffrey, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, (Wiley, 5th Ed.
1988; or other editions).
Harris, Daniel C. and Bertolucci, Michael D., Symmetry and Spectroscopy: An Introduction to
Vibrational and Electronic Spectroscopy (Oxford, 1978).
Huheey, James. E, Inorganic Chemistry: Principles of Structure and Reactivity, (Harper and
Row, 3rd
Ed, 1983, or other editions).
Riordan, Adam R.; Jansma, Ariane; Fleischman, Sarah; Green, David B.; and Mulford, Douglas
R., “Spectrochemical Series of Cobalt(III). An Experiment for High School through College”
The Chemical Educator [online] 2005, 10, 2.
Linck, R. G. “The Rate and Stereochemistry of the Aquation Kinetics of trans-
dichlorotetraamminecobalt(III)” “Inorg. Chem. 1969, 8, 1016
Jackson, W. Gregory, “Classic coordination complexes: The kinetics and stereochemistry of acid
hydrolysis of cis- and trans-[Co(NH3)4Cl2]+
”, Polyhedron 2006 25, 1955–1966
Borer, Londa L.; Erdman, Howard W. “An Experiment in trans-cis Isomerization: Synthesis and
Kinetics of trans-Dichlorotetraamminecobalt(III) Chloride J. Chem. Educ., 1994, 71 332-
Pearson, R G.; Boston, R.C., and Basolo, F “Mechanism of Substitution Reactions in Complex
Ions. V. Effect of Chelation on the Rates of Acid Hydrolysis of Some Cobalt(III) Complex Ions”
J. Phys. Chem. 1955.59, 304-307.
Tsuchida, R, “Spectrographic Methods of Studying unstable Compounds. II. The Aquotization of
trans-dichloro-tetraammine cobaltic chloride in Aqueous Solutions” Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 1936
11, 721.