Pi - Complex - Practice Questions & MCQ

These are the compounds of metals with alkenes, alkynes, benzene and other ring compounds. In these complexes, the metal and ligand form a bond that involves the  electrons of the ligand. Three common examples are Zeise's salt, ferrocene and dibenzene chromium. These are shown in the figure below:

                Zeise' salt                                       Ferrocene                 Dibenzene chromium

The number of carbon atoms bound to the metal in these compounds is indicated by the Greek letter 'η' with a number. The prefixes η², η⁵ and η⁶ indicate 2, 5 and 6 carbon atoms are involved in the formation of the bond with the metal atom/ion in the compound.