Why are lewis bases good ligands?

1 Answer
anor277
Dec 2, 2015

By definition a Lewis base is an electron pair donor.

Explanation:

Given that Lewis bases are electron pair donors, they can certainly bind to Lewis acidic centres (such as H+ and metal ions), which ACCEPT electron density. Metal-ligand ligation formally involves donation of an electron pair from the ligand to the metal. For a complex such as [Fe(OH2)6]3+, what was the Lewis acid, and what was the Lewis base before the complex was formed?

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