Ionization of Transition Metals...?

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So D-block metals lose their s-subshell electrons before losing their d-subshell electrons...But what if in the process of ionization, the element stands to attain half-full d-subshell stability if it lost a d electron...For example...In the ionization of iron to form Fe2+, why doesn't iron lose one s electron and then one d electron in order to attain a configuration that has a half-full d-subshell a.k.a 4d^5 ...Another example is Co2+ ...Why doesn't cobalt lose both of those electrons from the d subshell in order to attain half filled stability?

 

[blackmarble]

i believe it's because the s-subshell is higher energy, and would not be lost during the ionization process at least. in the ionization process the most loosely bound electrons are removed, which are in the d-shell. whether the ion subsequently rearranges to give the most stable electron configuration (i would think so but I'm not sure) is irrelevant for the most part, what you should know is the configuration of transition metals in its unionized form, which would be as you said giving preference to half-filled or fully filled d-subshells.

 

[blackmarble]

actually sorry i misread your question, i think it'd be unfavorable in that case to disrupt the filled s-subshell in order to maintain a half/full d-subshell.