Copper ions, Jahn-Teller effect

A minor success is also seen in complexes of d and d" ions, in which the distorted octahedral geometries observed may be rationalized (and indeed predicted) in terms of the Jahn-Teller effect, and ultimately in terms of the steric activity of the open d shell. This is a common feature in copper(n) chemistry, and you will... 

The Cupric, Cu2+ or Cu(II) State, 3d9 The most important and stable oxidation state for copper is divalent. There is a well-defined aqueous chemistry of the Cu2+ ion, which generates the familiar blue solution when complexed with water. A large number of copper coordination compounds exist and these have been studied extensively. A strong Jahn-Teller distortion is associated with the 3d9 electronic configuration of this ion. This implies that a regular tetrahedron or octahedron about the Cu2+ ion is never observed, except in the rare occurrence of a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect. The tetragonal distortion about an octahedron can lead to a square-planar coordination which is often observed in Cu(II) oxides. 

This general feature of both class I and class II behaviour of the copper(II) ion, i.e. the ability to exist in a high symmetry environment against the prediction of both the first- and second-order Jahn-Teller effects, is the best single piece of evidence for the cooperative Jahn-Teller effect and has recently been reviewed.432 It is generally responsible for the whole range of fluxional copper(II) stereochemistries and of the temperature variable ESR spectra of... 

As a consequence of the non-spherical symmetry of the copper(II) ion, d9 configuration, and of the influence of the Jahn-Teller, and pseudo Jahn-Teller effect on six-coordinate geometries, the stereochemistries of the copper(II) ion are characterized by non-rigid geometries (fluxional behaviour), and ranges of distorted geometries (Plasticity Effect). The latter may be connected by a series of Structural Pathways, which may be characterised by an Electronic Criterion of Stereochemistry for a related series of complexes, e.g. the [Cu(bipy)2X] [Y] complexes. 

In this way a wide range of stereochemistries of the copper(II) ion may be understood if they are first separated in terms of fluxional behaviour and basic static stereochemistries and then the static structures linked by the normal modes of vibration to yield Structural Pathways connecting the regular structures via the alternative tetrahedral and trigonal distorted structures. The full potential and consequences of the Jahn-Teller effect are then realised in the Plasticity Effect and the Fluxional Behaviour in copper(II) stereochemistry as a whole. 

Cu isotopes both with nuclear spin I-3/2. The nucle r g-factors of these two isotopes are sufficiently close that no resolution of the two isotopes is typically seen in zeolite matrices. No Jahn-Teller effects have been observed for Cu2+ in zeolites. The spin-lattice relaxation time of cupric ion is sufficiently long that it can be easily observed by GSR at room temperature and below. Thus cupric ion exchanged zeolites have been extensively studied (5,17-26) by ESR, but ESR alone has not typically given unambiguous information about the water coordination of cupric ion or the specific location of cupric ion in the zeolite lattice. This situation can be substantially improved by using electron spin echo modulation spectrometry. The modulation analysis is carried out as described in the previous sections. The number of coordinated deuterated water molecules is determined from deuterium modulation in three pulse electron spin echo spectra. The location in the zeolite lattice is determined partly from aluminum modulation and more quantitatively from cesium modulation. The symmetry of the various copper species is determined from the water coordination number and the characteristics of the ESR spectra. 

In octahedral symmetry, the copper(ll) ion has a electronic ground state due to the d electron configuration with the unpaired electron in an Cg a anti-bonding orbital. An exact octahedral geometry of six-coordinate copper(II) complexes is never realized due to a strong Jahn-Teller effect. The symmetry of the Jahn-Teller active vibration is eg, the non-totally symmetric part of the symmetric square [Eg Eg]. For a Cu(Il)Lg complex, the two components of the degenerate eg vibration are shown in Fig. 1 a [2]. 

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