Electron Counting Methods 1) Neutral Ligand / Covalent Method
Electron Counting Methods 1) Neutral Ligand / Covalent Method
Rule
ronic structures of many organometallic compounds are based on a tota
e electron count of 18 on the central metal atom. Sidgwick coined the te
gas rule for indication of stability of 18e compounds.
Electron Counting Methods
1) Neutral Ligand / Covalent Method: All ligands are treated as
neutral and are
categorized according to how many electrons they are considered to
donate.
2) Donor Pair/ Ionic Method: Ligands are considered to donate
electrons in pairs, resulting
the need
to[MX
treatLsome
ligands as
c+
ElectroninCounts
for
a b]
neutral and others as charged.
L: A neutral ligand, which can be a lone-pair donor, such as CO or
NH3, a -bond
donor, such as C2H4,or a -bond donor such as H2, which are all 2e
ligands on both
models.
X: Ligands such as H, Cl, or Me, which are 1e X ligands on the
18e
Rule
N: Number of electrons in neutral M
atom.
a and b are the numbers of ligands.
c is the net ionic charge.
Covalent
Model
Number of electrons on metal = N
Number of electrons in ligands = a + 2b
Total electron count = (N) + (a + 2b) c
Ionic
Model
Oxidation state of metal ion = (c + a)
Number of electrons on metal = N a c
Number of electrons in ligands = 2a + 2b
Total electron count = (N a c) + (2a + 2b)
= N + a + 2b c
2
Covale
nt
Ionic
CO, PR3
H2
H2O,
NH3
N2
R (alkyl,
aryl)
2 or 4
2 or 4
Ligand
H2C CH2
Cl
R
Ligand
H2C CH2 2
2
2
6
6
3
Structures of Metal
Carbonyls
Bonding Modes
Bonding Scheme
-bonding
dx2-y2
-bonding
dxy
Structures of Metal
Carbonyls
Bridging Modes of CO
Structures of Metal
Carbonyls
Both donation (which donates electron density from a bonding
orbital on CO)
and acceptance (which places electron density in C-O antibonding
orbitals) would be expected to weaken the C-O bond and to
decrease the energy necessary to stretch that bond.