Monodentate Ligands

The term "monodentate" can be translated as "one tooth," referring to the ligand binding to the center through only one atom. Some examples of monodentate ligands are: chloride ions (referred to as chloro when it is a ligand), water (referred to as aqua when it is a ligand), hydroxide ions (referred to as hydroxo when it is a ligand), and ammonia (referred to as ammine when it is a ligand).

Figure 1 : Central atom with six monodentate ligands attached.