Representation of configuration in coordination polyhedra and the extension of current methodology to coordination numbers greater than six (IUPAC Technical Report)

Abstract

Established IUPAC recommendations for the representation of configuration are reviewed briefly, and then methodologies are examined for dealing with regular polyhedra that are typically used when working with coordination numbers greater than 6. More than one method is available and can be used for many such geometries, but the deviations from regular polyhedral geometries that are typically found in such molecules can make it difficult to arrive reproducibly at the same description for a complex using purely objective criteria. Recommendations are made for some geometries of coordination numbers 7, 8, and 9, but not for higher coordination numbers.