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The Spectrochemical Series: Weak- vs. Strong-Field Ligands

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The spectrochemical series ranks ligands by crystal field splitting size, from weak-field ligands splitting d orbitals slightly to strong-field ligands splitting them widely.

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Cyanide, a strong-field ligand, produces a much larger splitting than iodide, a weak-field ligand, in a given complex.

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A ligand's position here depends on its electronic character, not the identity or charge of the metal it bonds.