Define Ligands?

[KC Navarro_1H]

I'm not entirely sure what a ligand is; we briefly covered this in class on Wednesday, but I don't really know how to point a ligand out. Could someone please clarify on this?

[AnnaYan_1l]

Ligands are ions or neutral atoms that bond to central atoms/ions to create a TM complex/organometallic complex/coordination compound. Ligands act as Lewis bases [electron pair donors]. In the example we had in class, the first ligand we looked at was NH3. It donated its lone pair to Ni2+. Another ligand we looked at was Cl-. In the compound [Ni(NH3)4Cl2], Ni is the central atom and NH3 and Cl are the ligands.

We also said that ligands directly attached to the central ion make up the coordination sphere.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you need some clarification about anything I said.

[NabilaNizam-1K]

Do we only classify certain molecules as ligands when it is involved in the formation of an organometallic complex?

[EllenRenskoff-1C]

Based on the fact that these are compounds that involve the donating/ accepting of electrons, I would assume that we would primarily be using the word ligand to describe elements in an organometallic complex.

[hannahtweedy]

What kind of thing do you think we could be asked regarding ligands

[Zuri Smith 1A]

So are all ligands Lewis bases?

[KC Navarro_1H]

Thank you for the clarification! I'm not sure what questions they'd ask us about ligands for the final, but maybe they'd ask us to identify one?

[Nimrat Brar 1E]

Ligands are molecules/ions (they must have a lone pair of electrons) that "bite" onto something with a high positive charge density (like a metal ion, such as Al(3+)).If you're having trouble with this concept, watching this youtube video really helped: https://youtu.be/011Bj5USal8

[Moris 1H]

How would a question about a ligand be asked?

[Alysia Garcia 1B]

What exactly is meant by "TM complex/organometallic complex/coordination compound"?

[Jada Larson 1F]

What exactly is meant by "TM complex/organometallic complex/coordination compound"?

All these refer to the same thing, but we have been mainly using the term coordination compound in class. The terms refer to a central metal atom, usually a transition metal (hence the term TM complex), that is bound to one or more atom, known as a ligand.