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Concept
Tridentate ligand
Summary
A tridentate ligand (or terdentate ligand) is a ligand that has three atoms that can function as donor atoms in a coordination complex.
Well-known tridentate ligands include diethylenetriamine with three nitrogen donor atoms, and the iminodiacetate anion which consists of one deprotonated amine nitrogen and a pair of carboxylate groups.
An octahedrally coordinated atom has six positions around it. Two tridentate ligands may form a complex with such an atom. There are two possible arrangements for such a complex: fac where the coordination is in a triangle on one face of the octahedron, and mer where the coordinating atoms are in an arc around the central atom, with two atoms of the ligand opposite each other. Fac tridentate ligands are termed scorpionate ligands, especially in reference to polypyrazolylborates.
If the tridentate ligand is not symmetrical, then in the fac complexes in octahedral coordination there are three possible isomers. In the mer complexes there are two enantiomers, mirror images of each other.
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Related concepts (2)
Denticity
In coordination chemistry, denticity () refers to the number of donor groups in a given ligand that bind to the central metal atom in a coordination complex. In many cases, only one atom in the ligand binds to the metal, so the denticity equals one, and the ligand is said to be monodentate (sometimes called unidentate). Ligands with more than one bonded atom are called polydentate or multidentate. The denticity of a ligand is described with the Greek letter κ ('kappa').
Ligand
In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electron pairs, often through Lewis bases. The nature of metal–ligand bonding can range from covalent to ionic. Furthermore, the metal–ligand bond order can range from one to three. Ligands are viewed as Lewis bases, although rare cases are known to involve Lewis acidic "ligands".