Nitrogen electron donors

The reactivity of the initial halogen bonded complex has also received considerable attention. Husebye and coworkers have suggested a process whereby the dihalogen bond is cleaved to give a key cation intermediate and a halide anion (Eq. 4) [182]. This mechanism is consistent with that often proposed for nitrogen electron donor systems. 

Conversely, neutral extracting agents possessing nitrogen electron-donor atoms in their structure (soft bases) will easily discriminate between An(III) and Ln(III) even from nitric acid feeds, thanks to covalently hinted An(III)-N interactions, the best example being the terdentate bis-triazinyl-pyridines (BTPs) or the tetradentate bis-triazinyl-bis-pyridines (BTBP). 

The alkaline and rare-earth metals, and positive actinide ions, generally have greater affinity for —0 groups as electron donors. Many transition metals complex preferentially with enoHc —0 and some nitrogen functions. PolarizabiUty of the donor atoms correlates with stabiUty of complexes of the heavier transition metals and the more noble metal ions. 

The heteroaromatic compounds can be divided into two broad groups, called n-excessive and n-deficient, depending on whether the heteroatom acts as an electron donor or an electron acceptor. Furan, pyrrole, thiophene, and other heterocyclics incorporating an oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur atom that contributes two n electrons are in the rr-exeessive group. This classification is suggested by resonance structures and confirmed by various MO methods. ... 

The nitrogen atom in the (almost) linear metal-thionitrosyl complexes is 5p-hybridized and the NS ligand behaves as a three-electron donor. The N-S bond distances in metal complexes vary between 1.45... 

These interactions are most commonly observed for divalent chalcogen atoms and the nitrogen atom (the electron donor D) lies within the X-E-Y (E = S, Se, Te) plane, preferably along the extension of one of the covalent bonds as in 15.3. This anisotropy is a clear indication that these short E N contacts have some bonding character, i.e., they are subject to the geometric restrictions of orbital overlap. Eor example, in the diselenide 15.4 the nitrogen lone pairs are clearly oriented towards the Se-Se linkage. ... 

In conclusion, it is very likely that the influence of solvents on the change from the heterolytic mechanism of dissociation of the C —N bond in aromatic diazonium ions to homolytic dissociation can be accounted for by a mechanism in which a solvent molecule acts as a nucleophile or an electron donor to the P-nitrogen atom. This process is followed by a one- or a two-step homolytic dissociation to an aryl radical, a solvent radical, and a nitrogen molecule. In this way the unfavorable formation of a dinitrogen radical cation 8.3 as mentioned in Section 8.2, is eliminated. 

The UV spectra suggest that the equilibrium between the diazonium ion and the solvent, on the one hand, and an electron donor-acceptor complex (8.58) on the other, lies on the side of the complex. The latter may possibly exist also as a radical pair (8.60) or a covalent compound (8.59). Dissociation of this complex within a cage to form an aryl radical, a nitrogen molecule, and the radical cation of DMSO is slow and rate-determining. Fast subsequent steps lead to the products observed. 

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