Trigonally-compressed octahedral geometry of hexaamminecobalt(III) complex cation in aqueous solution investigated from the electronic spectra

Electronic spectra of hexaamminecobalt(III) complex cation in aqueous solution were analyzed to obtain spectral components. Subsequently, based on the spectral components, the coordination geometry around the cobalt(III) ion was investigated, using the reverse angular overlap model method. The result indicates that the geometry is a trigonally compressed octahedron with the polar angle of 57.9 ± 1.0° under D_3d symmetry, where the polar angle is the angle between the trigonal axis and the Co–N bond. From this angle, the top and side N–Co–N bond angles are calculated as 94.4° and 85.6°, respectively. The density functional theory computation supported this trigonally compressed structure in aqueous solution.