Title: agostic interaction
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - agostic interaction
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.AT06984
Status: current

Definition
The manner of interaction (termed according to the Greek 'to hold or clasp to oneself as a shield') of a coordinatively unsaturated metal atom with a ligand, when the metal atom draws the ligand towards itself. An important type of agostic interaction is the C–H–Metal coordination providing for the activation of the C–H bond in transition metal complexes.

Related Terms
- activation: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/A00093
- agostic: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/A00187
- coordination: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C01329

Source
- PAC, 1999, 71, 1919. 'Glossary of terms used in theoretical organic chemistry' on page 1922 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199971101919)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/AT06984/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/AT06984/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/AT06984/xml

Citation: Citation: 'agostic interaction' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.AT06984
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Accessed: 2026-05-06T21:40:25+00:00