Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Synthesis and characterization of mononuclear, pseudotetrahedral cobalt(III) compounds
Julia Kozhukh1, Mikael A Minier, Stephen J Lippard
1Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Abstract:
The preparation and characterization of two mononuclear cobalt(III) tropocoronand complexes, [Co(TC-5,5)](BF4) and [Co(TC-6,6)](BPh4), are reported. The cobalt(III) centers exist in rare pseudotetrahedral conformations, with twist angles of 65° and 74° for the [Co(TC-5,5](+) and [Co(TC-6,6)](+) species, respectively. Structural and electrochemical characteristics are compared with those of newly synthesized [Ga(TC-5,5)](GaCl4) and [Ga(TC-6,6)](GaCl4) analogues. The spin state of the pseudotetrahedral [Co(TC-6,6)](BPh4) compound was determined to be S = 2, a change in spin state from the value of S = 1 that occurs in the square-planar and distorted square-planar complexes, [Co(TC-3,3)](X) (X = BPh4, BAr'4) and [Co(TC-4,4)](BPh4), respectively.
Related Concept Videos
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...
Valence Bond Theory
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,...
Coordination Compounds and Nomenclature
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...

