Über die Bindung zwischen abgeschlossenen Schalen, über Löcher in d-Schalen, über polare Kovalenz und über die Abbildung von Orbitalen: der Fall Cuprit

Meaningful structural descriptors from charge density

This paper provides a short introduction to the basics of electron density investigations. The two predominant approaches for the modelling and various interpretations of electron density distributions are presented. Their potential translations into chemical concepts are explained. The focus of the article lies on the deduction of chemical properties from charge density studies in some selected main group compounds. The relationship between the obtained numerical data and commonly accepted simple chemical concepts unfortunately is not always straightforward, and often the chemist relies on heuristic connections rather than rigorously defined ones. This article tries to demonstrate how charge density analyses can shed light on aspects of chemical bonding and reactivity resulting from the determined bonding situation. Sometimes this helps to identify misconceptions and sets the scene for new unconventional synthetic approaches.

Metallophilic interactions in closed-shell copper(I) compounds--a theoretical study

Cuprophilic interactions in neutral perpendicular model dimers of the type (CH3CuX)2 (X = OH2, NH3, SH2, PH3, N2, CO, CS, CNH, CNLi) were analyzed by ab initio quantumchemical methods. The basis set superposition error for the weakly interacting CH3CuX subunits is significant and is discussed in detail. A new correlation-consistent pseudopotential valence basis set for Cu. derived at the second-order Møller-Plesset level suppresses considerably the basis set superposition error in Cu-Cu interactions compared to the standard Hartree-Fock optimized valence basis set. This allowed the first accurate predictions of cuprophilicity, which has been the subject of considerable debate in the past. The dependence of the strength of cuprophilic interactions on the nature of the ligand X was addressed. The Cu-Cu interaction increases with increasing sigma-donor and pi-acceptor capability of the ligand and is approximately one-third of the well-documented aurophilic interactions. By fitting our potential-energy data to the Hershbach-Laurie equation, we determined a relation between the Cu-Cu bond length and the Cu-Cu force constant; this is important for future studies on vibrational behaviour. The role of relativistic effects on the structure and the interaction energy is also discussed. Finally we investigated cuprophilic interactions in (CH3Cu)4 as a model species for compounds isolated and characterized by X-ray diffraction.

Structural variations and bonding in gold halides: a quantum chemical study of monomeric and dimeric gold monohalide and gold trihalide molecules, AuX, Au2X2, AuX3, and Au2X6 (X = F, Cl, Br, I)

The molecular structures of all gold mono- and trihalides and of their dimers have been calculated at the B3LYP, MP2, and CCSD(T) levels of theory by using relativistic pseudopotentials for all atoms except fluorine. Our computations support the experimental observation that the relative stability of the monohalides increases from the fluoride toward the iodide, while the stability trend of the trihalides is the opposite. The potential energy surface (PES) of all gold trihalides has been investigated. These molecules are typical Jahn-Teller systems; the trigonal planar D3h-symmetry geometry does not correspond to the minimum energy structure for any of them. At the same time, the amount and character of their Jahn-Teller distortion changes gradually from AuF3 to AuI3. The minimum energy geometry is a T-shaped structure for AuF3 and AuCl3, with a Y-shaped transition-state structure. For AuI3, the Y-shaped structure lies lower than the T-shaped structure on the PES. For AuBr3 and AuI3, neither of them is the global minimum but instead an L-shaped structure, which lies outside the Jahn-Teller PES. This structure can be considered to be a donor-acceptor system, or a closed-shell interaction, with I2 acting as donor and AuI as acceptor. The dimers of gold monohalides have very short gold-gold distances and demonstrate the aurophilic interaction. The dimers of the trihalides are planar molecules with two bridging halogen atoms.