University12 min

Crystal field: splitting, spin and CFSE

Count a complex's d electrons, place them in t2g and eg, decide between high spin and low spin, then work out the CFSE and link colour to Δo.

The essentials

1

Octahedral splitting

Six ligands on the axes lift the degeneracy of the five dd orbitals. The dz2d_{z^2} and dx2y2d_{x^2-y^2} orbitals point at the ligands: the ege_g level, at +0.6Δo+0.6\,\Delta_{\text{o}}. The dxyd_{xy}, dxzd_{xz}, dyzd_{yz} orbitals point between the ligands: the t2gt_{2g} level, at 0.4Δo-0.4\,\Delta_{\text{o}}. The barycentre is preserved: 3×(0.4)+2×(+0.6)=03 \times (-0.4) + 2 \times (+0.6) = 0.
2

The spectrochemical series

Members only

3

High spin or low spin

Members only

4

The CFSE

Members only

5

Colour

Members only

ƒWrite my own sheetOr start from a blank page: rewriting a concept in your own words is how it sticks.