complex ion

…ionic, but cadmium also forms complex ions with ligands (atoms, ions, or molecules that donate electrons to a central metal ion); e.g., the complex ion with ammonia NH₃, having the formula [Cd(NH₃)₄]²⁺, or with the cyanide ion, the formula [Cd(CN)₄]²⁻. Differing from zinc and mercury, cadmium can form the complex…

Complex ions—that is, the ionic members of the family of coordination substances—may exist as free ions in solution, or they may be incorporated into crystalline materials (salts) with other ions of opposite charge. In such salts, the complex ion may be either the cationic (positively…

…whose anions form negatively charged complexes with the lanthanoid ions are used to wash the ions from the column. The metal ions themselves are held by the resin; the complexes are not. Those ions that form more stable complexes do not adhere to the resin and therefore move off the…