Which of the following ligands is a strong field ligand?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
Which of the following ligands is a strong field ligand?
I-
Br-
CN-
Cl-
CN- is a strong field ligand and causes a large splitting of d-orbitals, leading to low-spin complexes.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: Which of the following ligands is a strong field ligand?
Solution: CN- is a strong field ligand and causes a large splitting of d-orbitals, leading to low-spin complexes.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what a ligand is. A ligand is a molecule or ion that can donate a pair of electrons to a metal atom to form a coordination complex.
Step 2: Learn about strong field ligands. Strong field ligands are those that cause a large splitting of the d-orbitals in transition metal complexes.
Step 3: Identify the ligand in the question. The ligand given is CN- (cyanide).
Step 4: Recall the properties of CN-. CN- is known to be a strong field ligand.
Step 5: Understand the effect of strong field ligands. They lead to low-spin complexes, meaning that electrons will pair up in the lower energy d-orbitals before occupying the higher energy ones.