Metal-ligand bonds covalent

Changes in the charge of the central atom also strongly affect the metal-ligand bond length and the ionic-covalent share in fluoride complexes, which in turn impact the vibration spectra. Fig. 46 shows the dependence of asymmetric valence vibrations on the charge of the central atom. The spectral data for Mo, W, Zr, Hf fluoride compounds were taken from [71,115,137]. 

Classical complexes are identified [1112] as those species in which the central metal ion possesses a well-defined oxidation number and a set of ligands with a discrete electron population. Non-classical complexes , in contrast, involve highly covalent and/or multiple metal-ligand bonding resulting in indistinct oxidation numbers for both participants. 

There is an interesting paradox in transition-metal chemistry which we have mentioned earlier - namely, that low and high oxidation state complexes both tend towards a covalency in the metal-ligand bonding. Low oxidation state complexes are stabilized by r-acceptor ligands which remove electron density from the electron rich metal center. High oxidation state complexes are stabilized by r-donor ligands which donate additional electron density towards the electron deficient metal centre. 

C is enhanced by ligands that form more covalent bonds to the central atom The tendency for the lone pair, for example, on Pb(II) to become stereochemically active grows as the tendency of the donor atoms on the ligand increases to form more covalent metal-ligand bonds [24]. 

Four-coordinate complexes exhibit lower isomer shifts than six-coordinate compounds. Metal-ligand bonds are shorter and more covalent if the coordination number is smaller because of less steric hindrance and less overlap with antibonding 2g orbitals in the case of four as compared to six bonds. 

Quadrupole splittings are often interpreted from ligand field models with simple rules for the contributions from each occupied f-orbital (see discussion above). However, these models fail even qualitatively in the case of more covalent metal-ligand bonds. An example concerns the quadrupole spUttings of Fe(IV)-oxo sites in their 5 = 1 or 5 = 2 spin states. Here, ligand field considerations do not even provide the correct sign of the quadrupole splitting [60]. 

More quantitatively, it appears to a first approximation that the unit cell contraction of a compound containing Mn2+, Co2+, Ni2+, or Fe2+, relative to the isomorphous Mg+2 compound, is a linear function of the Ax of the metal-ligand bond if we neglect selenides and tellurides. Inclusion of these more covalent compounds indicates a greater dependence on Ax. 

In an attempt to establish unequivocally the spectroscopic features of coordinated (vs uncoordinated) phenoxyl radicals a series of phenolato precursor complexes containing a spectroscopically and redox-innocent Ga(III), Sc(III), or Zn(II) central metal ion were synthesized (142-148). In order to avoid metal-ligand bond dissociation in solution, the phenolate or, after one-electron oxidation, phenoxyl moieties were covalently attached to the strongly metal ion binding 1,4,7-triazacy-clononane (149) backbone. Thus a series of phenolate pendent-arm macrocyclic... 

---