Reactions in Solid Coordination Compounds

To this point, several types of rate processes that occur in solutions have been described. However, the study of reactions of solid coordination compounds has yielded a large amount of information on behavior in these materials. Several types of reactions of solid complexes are known, but the discussion here will be limited to four common types of processes. 

The most common reaction exhibited by coordination compounds is ligand substitution. Part of this chapter has been devoted to describing these reactions and the factors that affect their rates. In the solid state, the most common reaction of a coordination compound occurs when the compound is heated and a volatile ligand is driven off. When this occurs, another electron pair donor attaches at the vacant site. The donor may be an anion from outside the coordination sphere or it may be some other ligand that changes bonding mode. When the reaction involves an anion entering the coordination sphere of the metal, the reaction is known as anation. One type of anation reaction that has been extensively studied is illustrated by the equation 

In an interesting study on loss of water from pentammineaquaruthenium(III) complexes, the kinetic analysis was performed by following the mass loss from the complexes as described in Chapter 8. The rate law used to model the process was 

The data shown in Table 20.2 were interpreted in terms of two possible mechanisms  

In proposed mechanism I, the loss of water from the complex is the rate-determining step, but removal of water from the coordination sphere of the metal ion should be independent of the nature of the anion that is not part of the coordination sphere of the metal ion. On the other hand, if mechanism II is correct, the entry of X into the coordination sphere of the metal would be dependent on the nature of the anion, because different anions would be expected to enter the coordination sphere at different rates. Because there is an observed anion effect, it was concluded that the anation reaction must be an Sn2 process. However, it is not clear how a process can be second-order when both the complex cation and the anion are parts of the same formula. As discussed in Chapter 8, it is not always appropriate to try to model reactions in solids by the same kinetic schemes that apply to reactions in solutions. 

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