Which of the following are considered limitations of the Crystal Field Theory (CFT)? — Coordination Compounds Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

(A) True: CFT is a purely electrostatic model and treats ligands strictly as point charges. (B) False: It explains $d-d$ transitions but does not "perfectly" explain intensities, and ignoring charge transfer is a limitation, but the phrasing makes the premise false. (C) True: CFT ignores orbital overlap and covalency, which Molecular Orbital Theory addresses. (D) False: CFT fails to explain why anionic ligands like $OH^-$ and $F^-$ are actually at the *weak* end of the spectrochemical series; according to pure electrostatics, negative point charges should cause high splitting, but they do not.