Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 26, 2025

Author Spotlight: Functionalizing Metal-Organic Frameworks: Advancements, Challenges, and the Power of Post-Synthetic Ligand Exchange
Published on: June 23, 2023
Zinc(II) Complex Containing Oxazole Ring: Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Characterization, DFT Calculations, and
Karwan Omer Ali1, Hikmat Ali Mohamad, Thomas Gerber
1Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Halabja, Halabja, Iraq. karwan.ali@uoh.edu.iq.
Abstract:
A new complex of Zn(II), with 5-chloro-2-methylbenzoxazole ligand (L), has been synthesized by the reaction of zinc dichloride with the ligand (L= C8H6ClNO) in ethanol solution: dichloridobis(5-chloro-2-methyl-1,3-benzoxazole)-zinc(II), C16H12Cl4N2O2Zn. The synthesized complex has been fully characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductivity, FT‑IR, UV‑Vis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD analysis reveals that the complex has a 1:2 metal-to-ligand ratio. The zinc(II) complex has a distorted tetrahedral geometry with two coordinated nitrogen atoms from the ligand. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed at the B3LYP level of theory using the LANL2DZ basis set for metal complex and the 6-31G(d) basis set for non-metal elements to determine the optimum geometry structure of the complex, and the calculated HOMO and LUMO orbital energies were presented. A natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis was carried out on the molecules to analyze the atomic charge distribution before and after the complexation of the ligand. The Hirshfeld surface mapped over dnorm, shape index, and curvature exhibited strong H...Cl/Cl...H and H...H intermolecular interactions as the principal contributors to crystal packing.
Related Concept Videos
Ionic Crystal Structures
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
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,...
Oxidation of Alkenes: Syn Dihydroxylation with Osmium Tetraoxide

