Isomers and Chirality: Understanding Coordination Complexes

This lecture covers the concepts of isomers and chirality in coordination complexes. It begins with a review of isomers, distinguishing between constitutional and stereoisomers, and elaborates on the types of each. The instructor explains geometric isomers, including cis and trans forms, and introduces enantiomers as non-superimposable mirror images. The discussion emphasizes the importance of chirality, particularly in relation to the rotation of polarized light. The lecture also explores symmetry elements and operations, detailing how they relate to the chirality of complexes. The instructor provides examples of four-coordinate complexes, discussing their geometric and optical isomers. The second part of the lecture transitions into the preparation and stability of coordination complexes, highlighting various methods of synthesis and the factors influencing stability, such as ligand strength and thermodynamic aspects. The instructor concludes with a discussion on the Irving-Williams series and hard-soft acid-base theory, providing tools for predicting the stability of metal-ligand complexes.