Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

X-ray Powder Diffraction in Conservation Science: Towards Routine Crystal Structure Determination of Corrosion Products on Heritage Art Objects
Published on: June 8, 2016
Crystal and molecular structure of a new cobalt complex of quinine
P Pytel1, B J Oleksy, J Sliwiński
1Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
Abstract:
A new cobalt complex of quinine, C20H25Cl3CoN2O2, was obtained from a mixture of saturated alcohol solutions of CoCl2 6H2O and quinine. The X-ray structure analysis of a single crystal revealed that the complex is a zwitterion in which the positive charge is localised on the protonated nitrogen atom, N1, of the quinuclidine fragment and the negative charge is shared by the three chlorine atoms. The cobalt atom coordinates the chlorines and the nitrogen atom, N13, of the quinoline fragment. Each chlorine atom is engaged in intermolecular hydrogen bonds. One of them is an acceptor of the proton of the hydroxyl group, while the two others share the proton of the quinuclidine nitrogen atom, N1, in a bifurcated hydrogen bond. Quinine has open conformation typical for Cinchona alkaloids forming intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the crystalline state.
Related Concept Videos
Formation of Complex Ions
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
Valence Bond Theory
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.

