Given below are two statements: Statement I: The decreasing order of field strength of the given ligands is en > NH ₃ > H ₂ O > F ^- . Statement II: In general, the field strength of ligands follows the order of their donor atoms: C > N > O > Halogens . In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Step-by-step solution

According to the spectrochemical series, the arrangement of ligands in increasing order of their crystal field splitting energy (CFSE) is: F ^- Thus, the decreasing order of field strength is en > NH ₃ > H ₂ O > F ^- . Statement I is correct. As a general rule, the field strength of ligands depends on the nature of the donor atom. Carbon donors (e.g., CO , CN ^- ) are generally stronger than nitrogen donors (e.g., en , NH ₃ ), which are stronger than oxygen donors (e.g., H ₂ O , C ₂ O ₄²⁻ ), and halogen donors are