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Metabolism of Iron and Manganese¹

Dairy Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48823

ABSTRACT

The common trace minerals originate from metals of the first transition series. Some ideas about the similarity of these metals are depicted in Table 1, in which they are compared to calcium.

As these transition metals increase in atomic number from scandium to copper, one or two typical valence electrons are in the outermost or 4s orbital while the sixth or 3d orbital is being filled with electrons (Table 1). The 3d and 4s levels are very close in energy and changes within the next to the outer orbital of the atom have a limited effect on chemical properties, so that one cannot easily predict atomic behavior with a change of one 3d electron. Ions of the transition elements may accept electrons from donor atoms into the 3d orbitals which may completely (or partially) fill this orbital. The electronic structure of these atoms can then correspond to that of another element and the electronic structure of several resulting pairs of ions are similar, i.e., C⁺² and Mn⁺³, Mn⁺² and Fe⁺³, Fe⁺² and Co⁺³.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station as Journal Article no. 4882.