The first reported example of linkage isomerism had the formula [Co(NH3)5(NO2)]Cl2. The cationic cobalt complex exists in two separable linkage isomers. In the yellow-coloured isomer, the nitro ligand is bound through nitrogen. In the red linkage isomer, the nitrito is bound through one oxygen atom. The O-bonded isomer is often written as [Co(NH3)5(ONO)]2+. Although the existence of the isomers had been known since the late 1800s, only in 1907 was the structural difference explained.[3] It was later shown that the red isomer converted to the yellow isomer upon UV-irradiation. In this particular example, the formation of the nitro isomer (Co-NO2) from the nitrito isomer (Co-ONO) occurs by an intramolecular rearrangement.[4]