Question

When a polydentate ligand uses all its donor atoms simultaneously to bond to a single metal ion, it is said to be a _______ ligand.

(a) unidentate

(b) didentate

(c) chelate

(d) ambidentate

I got this question during an internship interview.

The doubt is from Definitions in portion Coordination Compounds of Chemistry – Class 12

Answer 1

The correct option is (c) chelate

To explain: Unidentate ligands use only one donor atom at a time. Didentate are polydentate ligands that have two donor atoms. An ambidentate ligand can bind through different donor atoms.