Tetrahedral vs. Square Planar [ENDORSED]

[aditipatel2J]

Hi! I was wondering how you could tell if the structure of a ligand is tetrahedral or if it is square planar based on just the formula of the coordination complex given. I know that visually the square planar shape has 4 ligands at corners of a square, but how can you tell just based on the coordination complex formula? Thank you!

[Chem_Mod]

Cisplatin was a specific example of a square planar coordination compound that I covered in class and students should know.

But in general, determining tetrahedral or square planar for coordination compounds is beyond the scope of Chem 14A.
It can be done but is not straightforward.