Behavior of Ligands towards Metal Ions

Coordination Behavior of Ligands towards Metal Ions 

A quite important, if not dominant, property of the metal coordination compounds is the fact that the M-ligand bond, which has the thermodynamic strength of a typical coordination bond (say 100 kJ/mole or below), and these are much weaker than (covalent) C-C and C-N or C-O single and double bonds (which are between 250 and 500 kJ/mole).  

As a basic rule of thumb it is practical to consider the following guidelines  

In biological systems metals can be coordinated to a variety of biomacromolecules, including 

1) proteins, and in particular to their polar side chains (N, O, S)  

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A. Coordination Behavior of Ligands towards Metal Ions... 

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