Denticity

Denticity refers to the number of donor groups in a single ligand that bind to a central atom in a coordination complex. In many cases, only one atom in the ligand binds to the metal, so the denticity equals one, and the ligand is said to be monodentate (sometimes called unidentate). Ligands with more than one bonded atom are called polydentate or multidentate. The word denticity is derived from dentis, the Latin word for tooth. The ligand is thought of as biting the metal at one or more linkage points. The denticity of a ligand is described with the Greek letter κ ('kappa'). For example, κ-EDTA describes an EDTA ligand that coordinates through 6 non-contiguous atoms.