How do we tell whether a complex with a four coordinated central metal ion takes on a square planar geometry or a tetrahedral geometry?
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1Rough rule of thumb: if it's not d8 it's tetrahedral. If it's d8 and not nickel it's square planar. If it is nickel you either look it up, do the experiment or run the calculation. All assuming no steric constraints. – Ian Bush Dec 06 '23 at 09:11
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@Ian Bush. What do you mean with : If it is nickel, run the calculation ! – Maurice Dec 06 '23 at 09:18
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@Maurice stick it in your favourite quantum chemistry package and run a geometry optimisation in both symmetries at the best level of theory you can afford. Select the one with the lowest energy. – Ian Bush Dec 06 '23 at 09:21
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I asked my teacher about it today. He said that for the first transition series elements, d⁹ and d¹⁰ configurations always form tetrahedral complexes, any other configuration is square planar under the influence of a strong field and tetrahedral under the influence of a weak field. For second and third transition series elements, all quadra coordinated complexes will be square planar – XXXMATHEMATICION Dec 07 '23 at 07:18