Iridium complexes ligand field states

It will not have escaped the reader s attention that the kinetically inert complexes are those of (chromium(iii)) or low-spin d (cobalt(iii), rhodium(iii) or iridium(iii)). Attempts to rationalize this have been made in terms of ligand-field effects, as we now discuss. Note, however, that remarkably little is known about the nature of the transition state for most substitution reactions. Fortunately, the outcome of the approach we summarize is unchanged whether the mechanism is associative or dissociative. 

There have been several reviews of mechanisms of photosubstitution in rhodium(III) complexes. Bond indexes for ground and excited states have been discussed in relation to D2h species. " The observation of stereospecificity has been discussed in relation to lifetimes for triplet singlet deactivation and geometric rearrangements. Direct evidence has been presented to support the intermediacy of, and role of rearrangement in, five-coordinate intermediates in ligand field irradiation experiments. Rhodium(III) has been discussed in relation to cobalt(III) and iridium(III), and to ruthenium(II) and ruthenium(III) as well. ... 

---