Ligand field or MO theory in d-block metal coordination complexes
In the next pages we discuss
the symmetry of the valence atomic orbitals (AO's) of the metal,
of the ligand group orbitals (LGO's, also called SALC's, Symmetry Adapted Linear Combinations),
the molecular orbitals (MO's) that correspond to AO/LGO combinations with the same symmetry, and
their relative energy.
Orbitals are shown in the Jmol applet by clicking the buttons in the text, or (some of) the energy levels in the diagrams. Examples: the 3d atomic orbitals
dxy
dyz
dxz
dx2-y2
dz2 and the
4s
4px
4py
4pz
Orbitals are not drawn to a particular scale, just sized so as to illustrate the symmetry in the 3D model.
In the MO diagrams energy levels aren't on scale either. Degenerate levels are spaced to make them clickable individually.