Crystal Field Theory
The model treating metal–ligand bonding as purely electrostatic and analysing how ligand fields split the metal d orbitals.
Unit
kJ/mol
In depth
Ligands are treated as point negative charges that repel the metal's d electrons, raising the energy of orbitals pointing towards them relative to those pointing between. The resulting splitting explains colour, magnetism and stabilisation energies that valence bond theory cannot.
Examples in the real world
Explaining why [Ti(H₂O)₆]³⁺ is violet, absorbing at 500 nm as its single d electron is promoted.