Editing Ligand field theory (section)

==History==
Ligand field theory resulted from combining the principles laid out in molecular orbital theory and [[crystal field theory]], which describe the loss of degeneracy of metal d orbitals in transition metal complexes. [[John Stanley Griffith]] and [[Leslie Orgel]]<ref name="Griffth 1957">Griffith, J.S. and L.E. Orgel. [http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1957/qr/qr9571100381#!divAbstract "Ligand Field Theory".] ''Q. Rev. Chem. Soc.'' 1957, 11, 381-393</ref> championed ligand field theory as a more accurate description of such complexes, although the theory originated in the 1930s with the work on magnetism by [[John Hasbrouck Van Vleck]]. Griffith and Orgel used the electrostatic principles established in crystal field theory to describe transition metal ions in solution and used molecular orbital theory to explain the differences in metal-ligand interactions, thereby explaining such observations as crystal field stabilization and visible spectra of transition metal complexes. In their paper, they proposed that the chief cause of color differences in transition metal complexes in solution is the incomplete d orbital subshells.<ref name="Griffth 1957" /> That is, the unoccupied d orbitals of transition metals participate in bonding, which influences the colors they absorb in solution. In ligand field theory, the various d orbitals are affected differently when surrounded by a field of neighboring ligands and are raised or lowered in energy based on the strength of their interaction with the ligands.<ref name="Griffth 1957" />