CPC Inorganic Chemistry & Coordination Compounds 2

Question 1

Cisplatin is an effective anticancer drug while transplatin is not, primarily because cisplatin can:

Accepted Answer

Form intrastrand crosslinks between two adjacent guanine bases on DNA

Answer

Cisplatin's cis geometry allows it to bridge two adjacent guanine residues on the same DNA strand, blocking replication; transplatin's geometry prevents this intrastrand coordination.

Question 2

Crystal Field Theory (CFT) accounts for the spectrochemical series by:

Accepted Answer

Treating ligands as point charges and ranking their ability to split d-orbital energies (Δ)

Answer

CFT uses a purely electrostatic model, treating ligands as point charges and ordering them by the magnitude of d-orbital splitting they produce.

Question 3

What is the Crystal Field Stabilization Energy (CFSE) for a strong-field (low-spin) d6 octahedral complex?

Accepted Answer

−2.4 Δo

Answer

A low-spin d6 complex fills all six electrons into the t2g set (each at −0.4 Δo), giving a total CFSE of 6 × (−0.4 Δo) = −2.4 Δo.

Question 4

Which of the following complexes exhibits optical isomerism?

Accepted Answer

[Co(en)3]3+

Answer

[Co(en)3]3+ is a tris-bidentate complex with D3 symmetry possessing non-superimposable mirror images (Δ and Λ enantiomers).

Question 5

The Jahn-Teller distortion is most pronounced for which d-electron configuration in an octahedral complex?

Accepted Answer

d9

Answer

A d9 configuration places electrons unevenly in the eg set (one orbital doubly occupied, one singly occupied), producing the largest Jahn-Teller distortion.

(CPC) Certified Professional Chemist Practice Test

(CPC) Certified Professional Chemist Practice Test

CPC Inorganic Chemistry & Coordination Compounds 2