6.01 | The Octahedral Ligand Field and Molecular Orientation Part 1

Tuesday June 21st 2022 | In this class we briefly reviews the different types of molecules that were discussed during class; (i) linear diatomic, (ii) tri- and tetra-atomic molecules (NH3, and H2O), (iii) complex organic molecules, and (iv) olefins. In this class we will discover how these molecules are able to bind to metal centers by means of their frontier molecular orbitals. We will start looking at the HOMO and the LUMO of the organic ligands and see how they find a symmetry match with metals in an octahedral ligand field. In particular we will look at ligands that are initial sigma-donating, whereafter we will introduce the concept of pi-acidic and pi-basic ligands and how it influence the electronic structure of the metal centers. If time permits, we will also look at the oxo-wall and how it can be explained by means of MO-Theory.

The link to the video can be found below: