• Monodentate?ligands can form only?one?dative bond to the central metal ion
• This is because they have a single lone pair of electrons to form a dative bond with the metal ion
• Examples of monodentate ligands are:
  • Water (H2O) molecules
  • Ammonia (NH3) molecules
  • Chloride (Cl–) ions
  • Cyanide (CN–) ions

Examples of complexes with monodentate ligands

Bidentate Ligands

• Bidentate?ligands can each form?two?dative bonds to the central metal ion
• This is because each ligand contains?two?atoms with lone pairs of electrons
• Examples of bidentate ligands are:
  • 1,2-diaminoethane (H2NCH2CH2NH2) which is also written as?‘en’
  • Ethanedioate ion (C2O42-?) which is sometimes written as?‘ox’

Examples of complexes with bidentate ligands

Multidentate Ligands

• Some ligands contain more than two atoms with lone pairs of electrons
• These ligands can form more than two dative bonds to the and are said to be?multidentate?ligands
• An example of a multidentate ligand is EDTA4-, which is a?hexadentate?ligand as it forms 6 dative covalent bonds to the central metal ion

Example of a polydentate ligand complex