Structure

[Vanessa_Ong_3F]

Can someone help explain what is the best way for me to go about determining molecular structure?

[Allison Peng 1D]

Molecular structure in a coordinate compound (which I believe is what you are asking about) is determined by the number of coordinate ligands bonded to it. A central atom with 6 ligands will have the octahedral shape, similar to what we have discussed before. A central atom with 4 ligands will be either tetrahedral or square planar (it is difficult to determine which of the two, so we can just leave it at that). I'm not sure if one with 5 ligands would be square pyramidal or trigonal bipyramidal, but it was not discussed in class, so just know the three shapes above.

[Cindy Vo 3E]

A coordination number of 6 would be octahedral. A coordination number of 4 would be tetrahedral or square planar. These are the main three we have to know.

[Hannah_Pon_1F]

Similarily to the way that we name the shape of molecules, to name the shape of coordination complexes, you need to consider the number of ligands and how these would arrange due to electron repulsion. The most common are octahedral (6 ligands) and square planar and tetrahedral (4 ligands)

[amara ajon 1d]

Hi,
To determine the structure of a coordination compound, we take a look at the number of coordination bonds around the central molecule. For this class, I'm pretty sure Prof. Lavelle said that we would only really need to know the shape of molecules with coordination number 4 (where the shape is either tetrahedral or square planar) or 6 (where the shape is octahedral).

[Jessica Sun 2I]

To figure out the molecular structure, you would have to figure out the number of ligands bonded to the central atom, otherwise known as the coordination number. If there are 6 ligands bonded to the central atom then the structure is octahedral. If there are 4 ligands bonded to the central atom, then the structure is either square planar or tetrahedral.

[Janys Li - 1L]

Hi,

To find the molecular geometry around an atom, you would look at the number of regions of electron density and the number of atoms attached to it. You can look up a chart and find the corresponding molecular structure.

[Kaitlyn Bateman 1L]

Hi! I have a question branching off of this, if a ligand is polydentate, does this change the structure? I know it changes the coordination number, but I don't think it changes the electron density.