Metal-ligand bond energies determination

In the gas phase, ions may be isolated, and properties such as stability, metal-ligand bond energy, or reactivity determined, full structural characterization is not yet possible. There are no complications due to solvent or crystal packing forces and so the intrinsic properties of the ions may be investigated. The effects of solvation may be probed by studying ions such as [M(solvent) ]+. The spectroscopic investigation of ions has been limited to the photoelectron spectroscopy of anions but other methods such as infrared (IR) photodissociation spectroscopy are now available. 

AH (M0H ) was determined. In some instances AH of the ion is known and the corresponding neutral is not. Thus, proton bracketing experiments can also be used to determine neutral metal-ligand bond energies. Reaction 8, for example, was used to determine PA(4-vinyl-... 

In addition, the determination of metal-ligand bond distances in solution and their oxidation state dependence is critical to the application of electron transfer theories since such changes can contribute significantly to the energy of activation through the so-called inner-sphere reorganizational energy term. 

The application of newer methods to studies of gas phase organometallic reactions will lead to the development of routine techniques for determination of the thermochemistry of organometallic species. The examples discussed above demonstrate that an analysis of kinetic energy release distributions for exothermic reactions yields accurate metal ligand bond dissociation energies. This can be extended to include neutrals as well as ions. For example, reaction 15 has been used to determine accurate bond dissociation energies for Co-H and C0-CH3 (57). 

Scheme 7. Thermochemical cycle for the determination of relative metal ligand bond-dissociation energies in 18- and 19-electron complexes.

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