Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-2/b7/a/ii/solution

Six neutral ammonia donors leave Cu(II), , so
The donor skeleton has octahedral molecular geometry with a pronounced tetragonal Jahn–Teller distortion, normally four shorter equatorial and two longer axial Cu–N distances. The occupation is orbitally degenerate in the ideal octahedral limit. An electron count above 18 is not a contradiction: ammonia is primarily a sigma donor and the occupied metal-derived antibonding levels make this a weak-field coordination complex rather than a low-valent carbonyl closed shell.

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