Ligandikenttähajonnaksi

Ligandikenttähajonnaksi, often translated as ligand field splitting, is a concept in inorganic chemistry that describes the difference in energy between d-orbitals of a transition metal atom when it is surrounded by ligands in a coordination complex. In an isolated gaseous transition metal ion, the five d-orbitals are degenerate, meaning they all have the same energy level. However, when ligands approach the metal ion, their electron clouds interact with the d-orbitals.

This interaction causes the d-orbitals to split into sets of different energy levels. The nature of this splitting depends on the geometry of the coordination complex and the electronic properties of the ligands. For example, in an octahedral complex, the d-orbitals split into two sets: a lower-energy set of three orbitals (t2g) and a higher-energy set of two orbitals (eg). The energy difference between these sets is called the ligand field splitting energy, often denoted as Δo for octahedral complexes.

The magnitude of the ligand field splitting is influenced by the strength of the ligands, which is described by the spectrochemical series. Strong-field ligands cause larger splitting, while weak-field ligands cause smaller splitting. This splitting is crucial for understanding the electronic spectra, magnetic properties, and reactivity of transition metal complexes. The filling of these split d-orbitals with electrons determines the color of the complex and whether it is paramagnetic or diamagnetic.