Question

Which of the following ligand(s) is/are ambidentate ?

• A. $NO{S}^{\Theta }$
• B. $\stackrel{\Theta }{S}CN$
• C. $N{O}_2^{\Theta }$
• D. $C{H}_3$COO${}^{\Theta }$

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (B), (C)

$NO{S}^{\Theta }$
$\stackrel{\Theta }{S}CN$
$N{O}_2^{\Theta }$

ambidentate ligands can attach to the central atom in two places. A good example of this is thiocyanate SCN, which can attach at either the sulfur atom or the nitrogen atom. Such compounds give rise to linkage isomerism.
Polyfunctional ligands, see especially proteins, can bond to a metal center through different ligand atoms to form various isomers.
Examples of ambidentate ligands include $NO2-/ON{O}^{-}$
(O and N), and $S{O}_{3}2-/OS{O}_{2}2-$
(O and S), where the first named atom refers to that which is bonded to the metal center.
Hence option A,B &C are correct.