what is eg nd t2g in tetrahedral
Answers
Answer:
Crystal Field Theory (CFT) describes the breaking of degeneracies of electron orbital states, usually d or f orbitals, due to a static electric field produced by a surrounding charge distribution (anion neighbors). This theory has been used to describe various spectroscopies of transition metal coordination complexes, in particular optical spectra (colors). CFT successfully accounts for some magnetic properties, colors, hydration enthalpies, and spinel structures of transition metal complexes, but it does not attempt to describe bonding. CFT was developed by physicists Hans Bethe[1] and John Hasbrouck van Vleck[2] in the 1930s. CFT was subsequently combined with molecular orbital theory to form the more realistic and complex ligand field theory (LFT), which delivers insight into the process of chemical bonding in transition metal complexes.
Explanation:
As stated in both the links Geoff and Philipp have kindly commented (1, 2) they are to do with symmetry labels we chemists like to assign to orbitals. Knowing an orbitals symmetry class can lead to a lot of simplifications down the road when you use quantum mechanical calculations and even dictate the reactivity of which orbitals are "allowed" to interact together in reactions.
In this case the t2 groups three of the metal atom's d-orbitals into a certain class while two of the orbitals belong to the e class. The t means triply degenerate while the e means doubly degenerate (degenerate means have the same energy).
The g is not about how many energy levels are degenerate rather it is an indication of the answer to a certain operation we can perform on an orbital. It instead relates to how the orbitals behave if we hypothetically were to put a line bisecting the orbitals or "invert" them around a centre point (crudely put "going from one corner to the other". If the phase of the wavefunction (or perhaps more pragmatic) the "colour" of the orbital lobes changes while doing this we label the orbital with a u if we have no phase change we label it with g. They indicate the orbitals response to an inversion about the centre of symmetry.
We can do lots more of these operations to investigate the symmetry of the orbitals which together lead us to assigning the molecule to a symmetry group. Knowing this is very important for a plethora of reasons.