Distorted octahedral molecular geometry

In chemistry, the distorted octahedral molecular geometry describes the shape of compounds where six atoms or groups of atoms or ligands are arranged around a central atom (with an electron pair capping the octahedron), defining the vertices of a gyroelongated triangular pyramid. This shape has C_3v symmetry.

Jahn-Teller effect

The term can also refer to octahedra influenced by the Jahn-Teller effect, which is a common phenomenon encountered in coordination chemistry.

Examples

• XeF₆^[1]
• IF₆^−[2]

References

1. T. Daniel Crawford, Kristen W. Springer, and Henry F. Schaefer (1994). "A contribution to the understanding of the structure of xenon hexafluoride". Journal of Chemical Physics 102 (8). doi:10.1063/1.468642.
2. Karl O. Christe , David A. Dixon , Jeremy C. P. Sanders , Gary J. Schrobilgen , Scott S. Tsai , William W. Wilson (1995). "On the Structure of the [XeOF5]⁻ Anion and of Heptacoordinated Complex Fluorides Containing One or Two Highly Repulsive Ligands or Sterically Active Free Valence Electron Pairs". Inorganic Chemistry 34 (7): 1868–1874. doi:10.1021/ic00111a039.