Question

Identify the correct order of decreasing field strength of the neutral ligands.

(a) CO, en, NH3, H2O

(b) CO, en, H2O, NH3

(c) en, CO, NH3, H2O

(d) en, CO, H2O, NH3

I got this question in a national level competition.

This key question is from Bonding in Coordination Compounds in section Coordination Compounds of Chemistry – Class 12

Answer 1

The correct option is (a) CO, en, NH3, H2O

For explanation I would say: According to the spectrochemical series, CO is the strongest ligand. The ligands en, amine and water are weaker than CO and their field strength decreases in that order.