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AGRICULTURE
Coordination compound, any of a class of substances with chemical structures in which a
central metal atom is surrounded by non-metal atoms or groups of atoms, called ligands, joined
to it by chemical bonds. Coordination compounds include such substances as vitamin B12,
hemoglobin, and chlorophyll, dyes and pigments, and catalysts used in preparing organic
substances.
A major application of coordination compounds is their use as catalysts, which serve to alter
the rate of chemical reactions. Certain complex metal catalysts, for example, play a key role in
the production of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition, a very stable class of
organometallic coordination compounds has provided impetus to the development of
organometallic chemistry. Organometallic coordination compounds are sometimes
characterized by “sandwich” structures, in which two molecules of an unsaturated cyclic
hydrocarbon, which lacks one or more hydrogen atoms, bond on either side of a metal atom.
This results in a highly stable aromatic system.
Organometallic coordination compounds, which include transition metal
compounds, may be characterized by “sandwich” structures that contain two
unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbons on either side of a metal atom. Organometallic
compounds are found in the p-, d-, s-, and f- blocks of the periodic table (the purple-
shaded blocks; the transition metals include those elements in the d- and f-blocks).
The following article covers the history, applications, and characteristics (including structure
and bonding, principle types of complexes, and reactions and syntheses) of coordination
compounds.
first prepared by Jørgensen, which effectively silenced even Werner’s most vociferous
opponents. Today he is universally recognized as the founder not only of coordination
chemistry but of structural inorganic chemistry as well.
In this formula the solid lines, which represent bonds between atoms, show that four of the
fluorine (F) atoms are bonded to the single atom of uranium (U) and lie in a plane with it, the
plane being indicated by dotted lines (which do not represent bonds), whereas the remaining
two fluorine atoms (also bonded to the uranium atom) lie above and below the plane,
respectively.
An example of an ionic coordination complex is the hydrated ion of nickel, (Ni),
hexaaquanickel(2+) ion, [Ni(H2O)6]2+, the structure of which is shown below. In this structure,
the symbols and lines are used as above, and the brackets and the “two plus” (2+) sign show
that the double positive charge is assigned to the unit as a whole.
The central metal atom in a coordination compound itself may be neutral or charged (ionic).
The coordinated groups—or ligands—may be neutral molecules such as water (in the above
example), ammonia (NH3), or carbon monoxide (CO); negatively charged ions (anions) such
as the fluoride (in the first example above) or cyanide ion (CN−); or, occasionally, positively
charged ions (cations) such as the hydrazinium (N2H5+) or nitrosonium (NO+) ion.
Complex ions that is, the ionic members of the family of coordination substances may exist as
free ions in solution, or they may be incorporated into crystalline materials (salts) with other
ions of opposite charge. In such salts, the complex ion may be either the cationic (positively
charged) or the anionic (negatively charged) component (or, on occasion, both). The hydrated
nickel ion (above) is an example of a cationic complex. An anionic complex is the hexacyanide
of the ferric iron (Fe+3) ion, the hexacyanoferrate(3−) ion, [Fe(CN)6]3−, or
Crystalline salts containing complex ions include potassium hexacyanoferrate(3−) (potassium
ferricyanide), K3[Fe(CN)6], and the hexahydrate of nickel chloride, hexaaquanickel(2+)
chloride, [Ni(H2O)6]Cl2. In each case the charge on the complex ion is balanced by ions of
opposite charge. In the case of potassium ferricyanide, three positively charged potassium ions,
K+, balance the negative charge on the complex, and in the nickel complex the positive charges
are balanced by two negative chloride ions, Cl−. The oxidation state of the central metal is
determined from the charges on the ligands and the overall charge on the complex. For
example, in hexaaquanickel(2+), water is electrically neutral and the charge on the complex
ion is +2; thus, the oxidation state of Ni is +2. In hexacyanoferrate(3−), all six cyano ligands
have a charge of –1; thus, the overall charge of –3 dictates that the oxidation state of Fe is +3.
The distinction between coordination compounds and other substances is, in fact, somewhat
arbitrary. The designation coordination compound, however, is generally restricted to
substances whose molecules or ions are discrete entities and in which the central atom is metal.
Accordingly, molecules such as sulphur(+6) fluoride (sulphur hexafluoride; SF6) and
carbon(+4) fluoride (carbon tetrafluoride; CF4) are not normally considered coordination
compounds, because sulphur (S) and carbon (C) are non-metallic elements. Yet there is no
great difference between these compounds and, say, uranium hexafluoride. Furthermore, such
simple ionic salts as sodium chloride (NaCl) or nickel(+2) fluoride (nickel difluoride; NiF2)
are not considered coordination compounds, because they consist of continuous ionic lattices
rather than discrete molecules. Nevertheless, the arrangement (and bonding) of the anions
surrounding the metal ions in these salts is similar to that in coordination compounds.
Coordination compounds generally display a variety of distinctive physical and chemical
properties, such as colour, magnetic susceptibility, solubility and volatility, an ability to
undergo oxidation-reduction reactions, and catalytic activity.
A coordination compound is characterized by the nature of the central metal atom or ion, the
oxidation state of the latter (that is, the gain or loss of electrons in passing from the neutral
atom to the charged ion, sometimes referred to as the oxidation number), and the number, kind,
and arrangement of the ligands. Because virtually all metallic elements form coordination
compounds
ROLE IN AGRICULTURE
Plant physiology will probably also assume an increasingly importanl role in agricultural
research problems. As world population increases, mankind faces enormously complex
problems. Their solutions will require input from many sources: social, economical,
technological and agricultural. One of the primary tasks of the future will be to increase food,
forage, fiber, and wood production substantially throughout the world. Future agricultural
research programme will continue, as in the present, to have as their major goals the production
of new and better varieties and strains of crop plants, the improvement of plant protection
against insects, diseases and weeds, the control of soil fertility and an increase in mechanization
efficiency. But in addition, there will be a sharp intensification of demands of plant
physiologists not only to supply basic information regarding how plants grow and develop but
also to undertake research programs designed specifically to increase yields of plant products.