The negative charge on the ligands is repelled by electrons in the d-orbitals of the metal. Crystal Field Theory. The splitting of the d orbitals in these compounds is shown in the figure below. Let us consider an octahedral arrangement of ligands around the central metal ion. The crystal lattice ions, both positively and negatively charged, create a crystal field, which acts upon the electrons from the unfilled shell of the impurity ion. It's a very simplified model, whereas as the ligand field theory considers covalent, as well as ionic aspects of coordination. A major feature of transition metals is their tendency to form complexes. The main points of theory are given below, The ligands are points charges which are either ions [F- ,Cl-, CN-, etc] or neutral molecules [NH 3,H 2 O, etc] with negative poles oriented towards metal cation. C r y s t a l F i e l d T h e o r y
- The relationship between colors and complex metal ions