Coordination Compounds
Unit V. Covers Werner’s theory and key terms; IUPAC nomenclature; Isomerism; Bonding: VBT and CFT; Metal carbonyls and applications.
About this unit
Coordination compounds contain a central metal atom or ion bonded to a set of surrounding molecules or ions called ligands. They are everywhere: chlorophyll, haemoglobin and vitamin B₁₂ are coordination compounds, and so are many catalysts, dyes and medicines. This unit covers Werner's theory, the vocabulary of complexes, IUPAC naming, isomerism, bonding through valence bond and crystal field theories, metal carbonyls and practical applications.
Key ideas
- Primary and secondary valencies (Werner's theory).
- Ligands and their denticity; chelates; ambidentate ligands.
- Coordination number, coordination sphere, coordination polyhedron, oxidation number of the central atom.
- IUPAC rules for naming complexes.
- Structural (linkage, coordination, ionisation, solvate) and stereoisomerism (geometrical and optical).
- VBT hybridisation, CFT splitting, spectrochemical series, magnetism and colour.
- Synergic bonding in metal carbonyls.
How to prepare
Practise naming at least twenty complexes and writing formulae from names. Learn to find the oxidation state and d-electron count of the metal, then predict hybridisation, geometry and number of unpaired electrons. Draw cis/trans and optical isomers. Memorise the main part of the spectrochemical series and key applications.
Topics in this chapter
Werner’s theory and key terms
Ligands, coordination number, coordination sphere, polyhedron, homoleptic and heteroleptic complexes.
5 questionsIUPAC nomenclature
Naming coordination compounds.
5 questionsIsomerism
Structural and stereoisomerism in coordination compounds.
5 questionsBonding: VBT and CFT
Valence bond theory, crystal field theory, spectrochemical series, magnetism and colour.
5 questionsMetal carbonyls and applications
Bonding in metal carbonyls and uses of coordination compounds.
5 questions