Denticity from lewis structure or VSEPR

[Dhwani Krishnan 1G]

Is there a way to tell denticity of a ligand from its lewis structure or VSEPR shape? How do you find denticity otherwise?

[Steven Garcia 1H]

For figuring out denticity, you would probably need both the Lewis structure as well as the VSEPR shape. The Lewis stricture will allow you to know how many donor groups (groups or atoms with lone pairs) are in the ligand. The shape will allow you to see if the two donor groups in the ligand are close to each other. If they are close to each other and face the central metal ion, then you would assume it's "many toothed". However, say you have two donor groups that are not near each other in the ligand, then the ligand is most likely monodentate.