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Mansur Mansur

Why are complexes of type MA3B3 not optical active?

Alexander Lehmann  Follow

Orient the fac- isomer so one A atom is facing towards you and a space between two B atoms is below it. Then the left half of this view is a reflection of the right half so you are actually looking down a mirror plane.

Because you could have chosen any of three A atoms in your view there are three mirror planes, which pass through a common rotation axis. The axis passes through the face that has all A atoms at its corners and the opposite face which has all B atoms. This symmetry is called $C_{\mathrm{3v}}$ in the language of point groups.

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