Question

Identify the correct order of increasing field strength of the ligands.

(a) SCN^–, NH3, NCS^–, CN^–

(b) NCS^–, SCN^–, NH3, CN^–

(c) SCN^–, NCS^–, NH3, CN^–

(d) NCS^–, NH3, SCN^–, CN^–

I have been asked this question by my school principal while I was bunking the class.

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

Answer 1

Correct answer is (c) SCN^–, NCS^–, NH3, CN^–

For explanation: According to the spectrochemical series, thiocyanate is weaker than isothiocyanate which is in turn weaker than amine and cyanide ligands.