- Key People:
- Alfred Werner
- Henry Taube
Coordination compounds often exist as isomers—i.e., as compounds with the same chemical composition but different structural formulas. Many different kinds of isomerism occur among coordination compounds. The following are some of the more common types.
Cis-trans isomerism
Cis-trans (geometric) isomers of coordination compounds differ from one another only in the manner in which the ligands are distributed spatially; for example, in the isomeric pair of diamminedichloroplatinum compounds 
the two ammonia molecules and the two chlorine atoms are situated next to one another in one isomer, called the cis (Latin for “on this side”) isomer, and across from one another in the other, the trans (Latin for “on the other side”) isomer. A similar relationship exists between the cis and trans forms of the tetraamminedichlorocobalt(1+) ion:
Enantiomers and diastereomers
So-called optical isomers (or enantiomers) have the ability to rotate plane-polarized light in opposite directions. Enantiomers exist when the molecules of the substances are mirror images but are not superimposable upon one another. In coordination compounds, enantiomers can arise either from the presence of an asymmetric ligand, such as one isomer of the amino acid, alanine (aminopropionic acid), 
or from an asymmetric arrangement of the ligands. Familiar examples of the latter variety are octahedral complexes carrying three didentate ligands, such as ethylenediamine, NH2CH2CH2NH2. The two enantiomers corresponding to such a complex are depicted by the structures below.
The ethylenediamine ligands above are indicated by a curved line between the symbols for the nitrogen atoms.
Diastereomers, on the other hand, are not superimposable and also are not mirror images. Using AB as an example of a chelating ligand, in which the symbol AB implies that the two ends of the chelate are different, there are six possible isomers of a complex cis-[M(AB)2X2]. For example, AB might correspond to alanine [CH3CH(NH2)C(O)O]−, where both N and O are attached to the metal. Alternatively, AB could represent a ligand such as propylenenediamine, [NH2CH2C(CH3)HNH2], where the two ends of the molecule are distinguished by the fact that one of the Hs on a C is substituted with a methyl (CH3) group.
Ionization isomerism
Certain isomeric pairs occur that differ only in that two ionic groups exchange positions within (and without) the primary coordination sphere. These are called ionization isomers and are exemplified by the two compounds, pentaamminebromocobalt sulfate, [CoBr(NH3)5]SO4, and pentaamminesulfatocobalt bromide, [Co(SO4)(NH3)5]Br. In the former the bromide ion is coordinated to the cobalt(3+) ion, and the sulfate ion is outside the coordination sphere; in the latter the sulfate ion occurs within the coordination sphere, and the bromide ion is outside it.
Linkage isomerism
Isomerism also results when a given ligand is joined to the central atom through different atoms of the ligand. Such isomerism is called linkage isomerism. A pair of linkage isomers are the ions [Co(NO2)(NH3)5]2+and [Co(ONO)(NH3)5]2+, in which the anionic ligand is joined to the cobalt atom through nitrogen or oxygen, as shown by designating it with the formulas NO2−(nitro) and ONO−(nitrito), respectively. Another example of this variety of isomerism is given by the pair of ions [Co(CN)5(NCS)]3− and [Co(CN)5(SCN)]3−, in which an isothiocyanate (NCS)− and a thiocyanate group (SCN)− are bonded to the cobalt(3+) ion through a nitrogen or sulfur atom, respectively.
Coordination isomerism
Ionic coordination compounds that contain complex cations and anions can exist as isomers if the ligands associated with the two metal atoms are exchanged, as in the pair of compounds, hexaamminecobalt(3+) hexacyanochromate(3–), [Co(NH3)6][Cr(CN)6], and hexaamminechromium(3+) hexacyanocobaltate(3–), [Cr(NH3)6][Co(CN)6]. Such compounds are called coordination isomers, as are the isomeric pairs obtained by redistributing the ligands between the two metal atoms, as in the doubly coordinated pair, tetraammineplatinum(2+) hexachloroplatinate(2–), [Pt(NH3)4][PtCl6], and tetraamminedichloroplatinum(2+) tetrachloroplatinate(2–), [PtCl2(NH3)4][PtCl4].
Ligand isomerism
Isomeric coordination compounds are known in which the overall isomerism results from isomerism solely within the ligand groups. An example of such isomerism is shown by the ions, bis(1,3-diaminopropane)platinum(2+) and bis(1,2-diaminopropane)platinum(2+),
Bonding theories
Valence bond theory
Several theories currently are used to interpret bonding in coordination compounds. In the valence bond (VB) theory, proposed in large part by the American scientists Linus Pauling and John C. Slater, bonding is accounted for in terms of hybridized orbitals of the metal ion, which is assumed to possess a particular number of vacant orbitals available for coordinate bonding that equals its coordination number. (See the article chemical bonding for a discussion of the theories of chemical bonding.) Each ligand donates an electron pair to form a coordinate-covalent bond, which is formed by the overlap of an unoccupied orbital of the metal ion and a filled orbital of a ligand. The configuration of the complex depends on the type and number of orbitals involved in the hybridization—e.g., sp (linear), sp3 (tetrahedral), dsp2 (square planar), and d2sp3 (octahedral), in which the superscripts denote the number of orbitals of a particular type. In many cases, the number of unpaired electrons, as determined by magnetic susceptibility measurements, agrees with the theoretical prediction. The theory was modified in 1952 by the Canadian-born American Nobel chemistry laureate Henry Taube, who distinguished between inner orbital complexes (d2sp3) and outer orbital complexes (sp3d2) to account for discrepancies between octahedral complexes. The main defect of the simple VB theory lies in its failure to include the antibonding molecular orbitals produced during complex formation. Thus, it fails to offer an explanation for the striking colours of many complexes, which arise from their selective absorption of light of only certain wavelengths. From the early 1930s through the early 1950s, VB theory was used to interpret almost all coordination phenomena, for it gave simple answers to the questions of geometry and magnetic susceptibility with which chemists of that time were concerned.
Crystal field theory
Considerable success in understanding certain coordination compounds also has been achieved by treating them as examples of simple ionic or electrostatic bonding. The German theoretical physicist Walther Kossel’s ionic model of 1916 was revitalized and developed by the American physicists Hans Bethe and John H. Van Vleck into the crystal field theory (CFT) of coordination, used by physicists as early as the 1930s but not generally accepted by chemists until the 1950s. This view attributes the bonding in coordination compounds to electrostatic forces between the positively charged metal ions and negatively charged ligands—or, in the case of neutral ligands (e.g., water and ammonia), to charge separations (dipoles) that appear within the molecules. Although this approach meets with considerable success for complexes of metal ions with small electronegative ligands, such as fluoride or chloride ions or water molecules, it breaks down for ligands of low polarity (charge separation), such as carbon monoxide. It also requires modification to explain why the spectral (light-absorption) and magnetic properties of coordinated metal ions generally differ from those of the free ions and why, for a given metal ion, these properties depend on the nature of the ligands.