The effective magnetic moment for a compound containing a transition metal ion with one or more unpaired electrons depends on the total orbital and spin
angular momentum of the unpaired electrons, \vec{L} and \vec{S}, respectively. "Total" in this context means "
vector sum". In the approximation that the electronic states of the metal ions are determined by
Russell-Saunders coupling and that
spin–orbit coupling is negligible, the magnetic moment is given by :\mu_{\text{eff}} = \sqrt{\vec{L}(\vec{L}+1)+ 4\vec{S}(\vec{S}+1)} \mu_B
Spin-only formula Orbital angular momentum is generated when an electron in an orbital of a degenerate set of orbitals is moved to another orbital in the set by rotation. In complexes of
low symmetry certain rotations are not possible. In that case the orbital angular momentum is said to be "quenched" and \vec{L} is smaller than might be expected (partial quenching), or zero (complete quenching). There is complete quenching in the following cases. Note that an electron in a degenerate pair of dx2–y2 or dz2 orbitals cannot rotate into the other orbital because of symmetry. : :legend: t2g, t2 = (dxy, dxz, dyz). eg, e = (dx2–y2, dz2). When orbital angular momentum is completely quenched, \vec{L}=0 and the paramagnetism can be attributed to electron spin alone. The total spin angular momentum is simply half the number of unpaired electrons and the spin-only formula results. :\mu_{\text{eff}}= \sqrt{n(n+2)} \mu_B where
n is the number of unpaired electrons. The spin-only formula is a good first approximation for high-spin complexes of first-row
transition metals. : The small deviations from the spin-only formula may result from the neglect of orbital angular momentum or of spin–orbit coupling. For example, tetrahedral d3, d4, d8 and d9 complexes tend to show larger deviations from the spin-only formula than octahedral complexes of the same ion, because "quenching" of the orbital contribution is less effective in the tetrahedral case.
Low-spin complexes According to crystal field theory, the
d orbitals of a transition metal ion in an octahedral complex are split into two groups in a crystal field. If the splitting is large enough to overcome the energy needed to place electrons in the same orbital, with opposite spin, a low-spin complex will result. : With one unpaired electron μeff values range from 1.8 to 2.5 μB and with two unpaired electrons the range is 3.18 to 3.3 μB. Note that low-spin complexes of Fe2+ and Co3+ are diamagnetic. Another group of complexes that are diamagnetic are
square-planar complexes of d8 ions such as Ni2+ and Rh+ and Au3+.
Spin cross-over When the energy difference between the high-spin and low-spin states is comparable to
kT (
k is the
Boltzmann constant and
T the temperature) an equilibrium is established between the spin states, involving what have been called "electronic isomers". Tris-
dithiocarbamato iron(III), Fe(S2CNR2)3, is a well-documented example. The effective moment varies from a typical d5 low-spin value of 2.25 μB at 80 K to more than 4 μB above 300 K.
2nd and 3rd row transition metals Crystal field splitting is larger for complexes of the heavier transition metals than for the transition metals discussed above. A consequence of this is that low-spin complexes are much more common. Spin–orbit coupling constants, ζ, are also larger and cannot be ignored, even in elementary treatments. The magnetic behaviour has been summarized, as below, together with an extensive table of data. :
Lanthanides and actinides Russell-Saunders coupling, LS coupling, applies to the lanthanide ions, crystal field effects can be ignored, but spin–orbit coupling is not negligible. Consequently, spin and orbital angular momenta have to be combined :\vec{L} = \sum_i \vec{l}_i : \vec{S} = \sum_i \vec{s}_i :\vec{J} = \vec{L} + \vec{S} and the calculated magnetic moment is given by :\mu_{\text{eff}}=g \sqrt{\vec{J}(\vec{J}+1)}; g={3 \over 2} +\frac{\vec{S}(\vec{S}+1)-\vec{L}(\vec{L}+1)}{2 \vec{J}(\vec{J}+1)} : In actinides spin–orbit coupling is strong and the coupling approximates to
j j coupling. :\vec{J} = \sum_i \vec{j}_i = \sum_i(\vec{l}_i + \vec{s}_i) This means that it is difficult to calculate the effective moment. For example, uranium(IV), f2, in the complex [UCl6]2− has a measured effective moment of 2.2 μB, which includes a contribution from temperature-independent paramagnetism. ==Main group elements and organic compounds==