boron group element

boron group element

Introduction
 any of the five chemical elements constituting Group 13 (IIIa) of the periodic (periodic law) table (see Figure—>). The elements are boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and thallium (Tl). They are characterized as a group by having three electrons in the outermost parts of their atomic structure. Boron, the lightest of these elements, is a nonmetal but the other members of the group are silvery-white metals.

      None of these elements was known in a pure state before modern chemistry isolated them. Very soon after a method had been found to produce it in commercial quantities, aluminum revolutionized industry. The other members of the group, including boron, still have little commercial value. Some of the compounds of boron and aluminum, however, are indispensable in modern technology and have been widely used in many parts of the world throughout recorded history.

History
      The use of a boron compound (inorganic compound) known as borax (sodium tetraborate, Na2B4O7∙10H2O) can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians, who used it as a metallurgical flux (a substance that aids the heat joining or soldering of metals), in medicine, and in mummification. During the 13th century, Marco Polo introduced borax into Europe, but not until the mid-19th century, when vast deposits of borates were discovered in the Mojave Desert, did borax become relatively common. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used a compound of aluminum known as alum (the compound potassium aluminum sulfate) in dyeing as a mordant; i.e., a substance that fixes dye molecules to the fabric. Lapis lazuli, a rare, dark blue mineral (the compound sodium aluminum silicate containing sulfur), has been widely used as a semiprecious stone throughout history. The metal aluminum was first isolated early in the 19th century but it was not until a modern electrolytic process based on the use of bauxite ore was developed that commercial production of aluminum became economically feasible. The other elements of the boron group were first detected spectroscopically (i.e., by analysis of the light emitted by or passed through substances containing the element) in the late 19th century. The existence and properties of gallium were predicted by a Russian chemist, Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev (Mendeleyev, Dmitry Ivanovich), on the basis of the periodic table of the elements that he had developed; the ultimate discovery of gallium and the accuracy of his description of the properties of the then unknown element convinced scientists of the theoretical soundness of the table. Gallium is one of two metals (the other is cesium) whose melting points are low enough for them to turn to liquid when held in the hand.

General properties of the group

ionization energies
       Some properties of the boron group elementsThe Table (Some properties of the boron group elements) gives a list of the electronic configurations and several ionization energies of the boron group elements. Every element in the boron group has three electrons in its outermost shell (so-called valence electrons), and for each element there is a sharp jump in the amount of energy required to remove the fourth electron, reflecting the fact that this electron must be removed from an inner shell. Consequently the elements of the group have maximum oxidation numbers of three, corresponding to loss of the first three electrons, and form ions with three positive charges.

      The apparently erratic way in which ionization energies vary among the elements of the group is due to the presence of the filled inner d orbitals in gallium, indium, and thallium, and the f orbital in thallium, which do not shield the outermost electrons from the pull of the nuclear charge as efficiently as do the inner s and p electrons. In Groups 1 and 2 (Ia and IIa), in contrast to the boron group, outer shell (always referred to as n) electrons are shielded in every case by a constant inner set of electrons, in the (n-1)s2(n-1)p6 orbitals, and the ionization energies of these Group-1 and Group-2 elements decrease smoothly down the group. The ionization energies of Ga, In, and Tl are thus higher than expected from their Group 2 counterparts because their outer electrons, being poorly shielded by the inner d and f electrons, are more strongly bound to the nucleus. This shielding effect also makes the atoms of gallium, indium, and thallium smaller than the atoms of their Group 1 and 2 neighbours by causing the outer electrons to be pulled closer toward the nucleus.

      The M3+ state for Ga, In, and Tl is energetically less favourable than Al3+ because the high ionization energies of these three elements cannot always be balanced by the crystal energies of possible reaction products. For example, of the simple, anhydrous compounds of thallium in its +3 oxidation state, only the trifluoride, TlF3, is ionic. For the group as a whole, therefore, the M3+ ionic state is the exception rather than the rule. More commonly the elements of the group form covalent bonds and achieve an oxidation state of three by promoting one electron from the s orbital in the outer shell (designated ns orbital) to an np orbital, the shift permitting the formation of hybrid, or combination, orbitals (of the variety designated as sp2). Increasingly down the group there is a tendency toward the formation of M+ ions and at thallium the +1 oxidation state is the more stable one. The basicity (a property of metals) of the elements also increases in proceeding down the group as shown by the oxides (oxide) they form: boric oxide (formula B2O3) is acidic, the next three oxides, of aluminum, gallium, and indium (formulas Al2O3, Ga2O3, and In2O3) are either acidic or basic depending on the environment (a property called amphoterism), and thallic oxide (Tl2O3) is wholly basic.

Compounds of the boron-group elements
Salts of M2+ ions
       Some properties of the boron group elementsThe ionization energies listed in the Table (Some properties of the boron group elements) suggest that the formation of salts of the M2+ ions might be feasible. At first glance, such appears to be the case, since gallium compounds with the formula GaX2 (X representing chlorine, bromine, or iodine) can be made, and similar cases occur with the other metals of this group. Such compounds, however, are generally found to be of mixed oxidation state—that is, they contain metal atoms in both the one and the three oxidation states, a condition symbolized as M+(M3+X4). The nearest approach to M2+ derivatives occurs in gallium sulfide, selenide, and telluride, which are made by heating gallium with stoichiometric amounts of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium, respectively. Studies of the structure of these compounds by X-ray methods show that they contain (Ga-Ga)4+ units arranged in a layer-like lattice; the coupling of the gallium atoms in such a manner pairs the electrons available for the bonds and thereby explains the diamagnetism of the compounds (diamagnetism is a property associated with paired electrons).

      The large amount of energy required to remove three electrons completely from a boron atom makes the formation of salts containing the bare B3+ cation impossible; even water of hydration associated with such ions would be too highly deformed to be stable and hence the aquated ion B3+(aq) is unknown. Much less energy is required to promote electrons from 2s orbitals into 2p orbitals in boron atoms with the result that boron compounds are always covalent. The boron orbitals are hybridized to either the sp2 (when boron forms bonds with three other atoms) or the sp3 (when boron forms bonds with four atoms) configuration (see chemical bonding: Valence bond theory: Hybridization (chemical bonding)).

Hydrated ions in the +3 oxidation state
      Although simple M3+ cations are uncommon in anhydrous compounds of the boron group (chemical equilibrium) elements, the hydrated (combined with water) triply charged ions of aluminum, gallium, indium, and thallium are well known in water solution. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies reveal that six water molecules are held strongly by these positive ions in solution, and their salts often can be crystallized from solution combined with six water molecules. The high charge on the central cation of such hydrates (hydrate) induces the ionization of protons, or hydrogen nuclei, on the coordinated water molecules and thereby leads to the formation of basic salts. This reaction (chemical reaction) (called hydrolysis) is represented in the following equations:

      in which, as before, M represents an ion of one of the boron group elements; n is the number of water molecules joined to it; (HO)M represents a hydroxide group joined to the metal ion; and H+(aq) is a hydrated hydrogen ion. In these and other equations the arrows pointing in two directions indicate that the chemical reactions can proceed both ways depending on the reaction conditions. When acid is added to such aqueous solutions it depresses the hydrolytic processes by reversing the above reactions. At high acid concentrations, however, complex anions (negative ions) are sometimes formed, especially with the aqueous hydrogen halides. The following equation illustrates this: Ga3+(aq) + HX (conc.) → GaX4, X being chlorine, bromine, or iodine. Intermediate complex ions, MX2+ and MX2+ can be detected in several cases.

Trihalides
      The electrical conductivity of solid aluminum trichloride (formula AlCl3), in which each aluminum ion has three positive charges, increases rapidly as the temperature is elevated toward the melting point, at which the conductivity suddenly falls to zero. This phenomenon occurs because the aluminum and chloride ions form an ionic lattice that partially conducts electricity; but upon melting, the compound changes to the electrically nonconducting, covalent state. The explanation is that the distribution of energy in the liquid state is insufficient to compensate for the ionization energy required to separate the Al3+ and Cl ions and these then acquire covalent bonds. The liquid consists of double or dimeric molecules (molecule) with the formula Al2Cl6, which may be represented in the following manner that shows a molecule with the position of its atoms in three dimensions; the solid lines are in the plane of the paper, the dotted lines are behind the paper, and the shaded lines indicate that they extend toward the viewer:

      The delicate energy balance between ionic and covalent bonding for aluminum in the +3 oxidation state can be appreciated when it is realized that whereas solid aluminum trifluoride, formula AlF3, is ionic like the chloride, aluminum tribromide forms molecular crystals containing dimers, with the formula Al2Br6.

      In contrast with the dimers, the single, or monomeric, trihalides of the boron group elements have trigonal planar structures. If M is the metal and X is any halogen, the arrangement of the atoms can be sketched as follows:

      The trihalides of boron have this configuration in all phases whereas the trihalides of Al, Ga, In, and Tl become monomeric only on being heated in the gas phase. In MX3 molecules, the central atom M has added three electrons to its own making only six electrons in the outer shell, although eight are required to achieve the desired inert-gas configuration. These halides, therefore, readily accept two more electrons from many donor molecules (e.g., ethers, alcohols, amines, and phosphines) that carry unshared pairs of electrons. A typical case, the reaction of gallium tribromide with trimethylamine, is represented in the following equation:

      The central gallium atom is coordinated (coordination compound) or bonded to three bromine atoms and one nitrogen atom. The electron donor also can be a halide ion, in which case the tetrahedral complex anion, MX4 results.

Less common compounds
      A few compounds are known in which aluminum, gallium, indium, and thallium are coordinated to five or six atoms. These compounds have structures of the following types, M again representing any boron group element, D any donor molecule, and X any halogen (again, the solid lines are bonds in the plane of the paper, the atoms so bonded lying in that plane; the dotted lines lead behind the paper; the shaded lines reach toward the viewer):

      In such compounds it is possible, but by no means certain, that the central element makes use of its vacant nd orbitals (see above) to increase its oxidation state by way of sp3d (five-coordination) or sp3d2 (six-coordination) hybridization. If the concept of the participation of d orbitals in the bonding of these compounds is valid, it would account for the fact that boron, which has no available d orbitals, does not form five- and six-coordinate compounds. In many cases, however, spatial requirements also would rule out the possibility of boron increasing its covalency above four because the boron atom is so small no more than four atoms can be arranged around it.

      In the gas phase at high temperature all the boron group elements form diatomic halides MX, either by dissociation of the trihalides or, more commonly, by reduction of the trihalides with the free element as in the following equations for two such reactions:

      Most of these monohalides, especially those of boron, aluminum, and gallium, are unstable in the solid state under normal conditions; they exist only at high temperatures as gases; all are covalently bonded, except thallium fluoride, which exists as the ion pair, Tl+F.

      Thallium is the only element that forms a stable ion having an (n-1)d10ns2 outer electronic configuration. There is, therefore, no ion to which direct comparisons with the singly charged thallium ion, Tl+, might be made.

Alan Gibbs Massey

Additional Reading
Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis, 6th ed., vol. 1, The Elements, ed. by N.H. Furman (1962, reprinted 1975), is a comprehensive text on analysis with further information on the boron group. A booklet by A.G. Massey and J. Kane, Boron (1972), describes the modern uses of boron and its compounds. A.G. Massey, The Typical Elements (1972), is an undergraduate text on the nontransition elements. More recent information may be found in Joel F. Liebman, Arthur Greenberg, and Robert E. Williams (eds.), Advances in Boron and the Boranes (1988).Alan Gibbs Massey Ed.

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Universalium. 2010.

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