A series of new complexes is reported with acetone as the ligand: In the complexes, the carbonyl vibration is shifted to lower frequencies and the CO bending, the CO deformation, and the CCC deformation vibrations are shifted to higher frequencies with regard to the vibrations in the free ligand. The magnitudes of the shifts are dependent on the metal ions. In the far infrared a metal-dependent absorption band appears, which is attributed to the metalligand stretching vibration.Investigation of ligand field spectra indicates the presence of octahedral species M(acetone)e2+ in the solid compounds. Values for Dq and B' are reported and the ligand is placed in the spectrochemical and nephelauxetic series.