Re: Complex Ammonia

["Adam Shaw" <adams1 at comcen_com.au>]

Regarding complex ammonia, Paul said:
>Ammonia can certainly be complexed, but I don't see how ammonium (NH4+)
>can be complexed any further than it is - the H+ is complexing the
>ammonia, and it has no further way of hanging on to anything else.

Well N can form more than 4 bonds - as you may know, complex structures
form from coordinate covalent bonding and actually it is not uncommon to
see it forming five bonds. Hydrogen in NH4+ is only utilizing 4 bonds -
leaving one. Granted it wouldn't be a particularly large complex ion,
but it can still be complexed greater than the extent to which ammonium
is on its own.

Adam Shaw
Australia