THE BONDING OF MULTIPLE LIGANDS TO MG+ AND AL+

The bonding of one to four water ligands to Mg+ and Al+ is studied. The bonding is very different from that found for multiple ligands bound to Na+ or Cu+. All the waters bind on the same side of the Mg or Al because of the polarization of the 3s orbital away from the ligands. Two benzene and methanol molecules also have a ligand-Mg-ligand angle of less than 180-degrees with the angle determined by ligand-ligand repulsion.