Ligands of denticity greater than 6 are well known.

Note that ligands of potentially higher denticity can and often do act as unidentate species.

The word denticity is derived from dentis, the Latin word for tooth.

Polydentate ligands are chelating agents and classified by their denticity.

The more rigid and the higher its denticity, the more inert will be the macrocyclic complex.

In general, the stability of a metal complex correlates with the denticity of the ligands.

The denticity of a ligand is described with the Greek letter κ ('kappa').

Hapticity must be distinguished from denticity.

The impact of ligand denticity and active intermediate geometry on the stereochemical outcome has been thoroughly reviewed.

First, because of its high denticity, this ligand has a high affinity for metal cations:

Denticity refers to the number of donor groups in a single ligand that bind to a central atom in a coordination complex.

The denticity of the polyether influences the affinity of the crown ether for various cations.

Higher denticity is achieved by linking two or more glycinate or IDA units together.

Hexadentate ligands tend to bind metal ions more strongly than ligands of lower denticity.

Rational control of the ligand properties, such as denticity, geometry, and size, can lead to large, and sometimes predictable, polynuclear assemblies.

Denticity is different from hapticity because hapticity refers exclusively to ligands where the coordinating atoms are contiguous.

In addition, if the ligand coordinates through multiple atoms that are not contiguous then this is considered denticity (not hapticity), and the κ-notation is used once again.

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).

As a polydentate ligand, DOTA envelops metal cations, but the denticity of the ligand depends on the geometric tendencies of the metal cation.

Studying the product ratio in a bicyclic system, Denmark and colleagues showed that both mechanisms could be operative depending on the denticity of the Lewis acid and the identity of the R' group.

The implications of these data regarding the denticity of the ligand in M(P[(CH2)2PPh2]3)2+ are discussed, and a comparison with the metal nmr spectra of related stannous and plumbous complexes is made.