Bonding Nature of Open-Lantern-type Dinuclear Cr(II) Complexes. Theoretical Study with the MRMP2 Method

How to understand very weak Cr-Cr double bonds and negative spin populations in trinuclear Cr complexes: theoretical insight

Trinuclear Cr(ii) complex [Cr3(dpa)4Cl2] 1 (Hdpa = dipyridylamine) has two Cr-Cr double bonds linked with each other. DMRG-CASPT2 calculations reproduced its symmetrical structure. The Cr-Cr effective bond order (EBO) was evaluated to be only 0.59 based on the density matrix based on localized orbitals from DMRG-CASSCF orbitals. The CASCI calculations showed a significantly large α-spin population on the terminal Cr atoms as expected but a significantly large β-spin population on the central Cr atom against expectations. The very small EBO and the presence of a large β-spin population are not consistent with the simple understanding that 1 has two Cr-Cr double bonds and a quintet ground state, which requests correct understanding of 1 from the viewpoint of chemical bond theory. Comparison of 1 with the allene molecule and allyl radical disclosed that the linked Cr-Cr bonds of 1 resembled the C-C bond of the allyl radical but completely differed from the linked C-C double bonds of allene despite the similar molecular structure. Its N3 analogue [Cr3(dpa)4(N3)2] 2 has non-symmetrical structure with shorter Cr1-Cr2 and longer Cr2-Cr3 bonds unlike 1, indicating that 2 is a valence tautomer of 1. DMRG-CASPT2 could reproduce its non-symmetrical structure but DFT/B3PW91 could not. In 2, the EBO is 0.95 for the shorter Cr1-Cr2 bond and 0.47 for the longer Cr2-Cr3 one. The terminal Cr3 has a very large α spin population, and the other terminal Cr1 has a somewhat large α spin population, but the central Cr2 has a considerably large β spin population. These results indicate that the Cr1-Cr2 bond conjugates with the Cr2-Cr3 bond, which is inconsistent with the simple understanding that 2 has a quadruple bond between Cr1 and Cr2 and no bond between Cr2 and Cr3. The symmetrical structure has a stronger Cr-X coordinate bond (X = Cl or N3) but less stable Cr3 core than does the non-symmetrical one. The relative stabilities of the symmetrical and the non-symmetrical structures are determined by the balance between stabilization energies from the Cr3 core and the Cr-X coordinate bond. All these findings show that electronic structures and Cr-Cr bonds of 1 and 2 are interesting from the viewpoint of molecular science.

Three new types of transition metal carboranylamidinate complexes

Three new types of transition metal carboranylamidinate complexes are reported.

Isolation of a hexanuclear chromium cluster with a tetrahedral hydridic core and its catalytic behavior for ethylene oligomerization

A chromium complex [2-(NHCH2PPh2)C5H4N]CrCl3·THF2 (1) of the ligand PyNHCH2PPh2 has been synthesized, characterized, and examined for its catalytic behavior toward ethylene oligomerization. When complex 1 was treated with (i-Bu)3Al, an unprecedented divalent polyhydride chromium cluster μ,κ(1),κ(2),κ(3)-N,N,P-{[2-(NCH2PPh2)C5H4N]Cr(μ-H)}4[(μ-Cl)Cr(μ-Cl)Al(i-Bu)2Cl]2 (2) was obtained. The complex contains a Cr4H4 core, which is expected to be diamagnetic, and which remains coordinated to two additional divalent high-spin Cr atoms via bridging interactions. Two aluminate residues remain bonded to the peripheral chromium atoms. The structure, magnetism, and electronic configuration are herein discussed.

CASPT2 study of inverse sandwich-type dinuclear Cr(I) and Fe(I) complexes of the dinitrogen molecule: significant differences in spin multiplicity and coordination structure between these two complexes

Inverse sandwich-type complexes (ISTCs), (μ-N2)[M(AIP)]2 (AIPH = (Z)-1-amino-3-imino-prop-1-ene; M = Cr and Fe), were investigated with the CASPT2 method. In the ISTC of Cr, the ground state takes a singlet spin multiplicity. However, the singlet to nonet spin states are close in energy to each other. The thermal average of effective magnetic moments (μeff) of these spin multiplicities is close to the experimental value. The η(2)-side-on coordination structure of N2 is calculated to be more stable than the η(1)-end-on coordination one. This is because the d-orbital of Cr forms a strong dπ-π* bonding interaction with the π* orbital of N2 in molecular plane. In the ISTC of Fe, on the other hand, the ground state takes a septet spin multiplicity, which agrees well with the experimentally reported μeff value. The η(1)-end-on structure of N2 is more stable than the η(2)-side-on structure. In the η(1)-end-on structure, two doubly occupied d-orbitals of Fe can form two dπ-π* bonding interactions. The negative spin density is found on the bridging N2 ligand in the Fe complex but is not in the Cr complex. All these interesting differences between ISTCs of Cr and Fe are discussed on the basis of the electronic structure and bonding nature.

Theory, synthesis and reactivity of quintuple bonded complexes

Recent achievements in the area of metal–metal quintuple bonding are highlighted, including synthesis of quintuple bonded complexes, metal-to-metal bonding schemes, and their reactivity.

The important role of the Mo–Mo quintuple bond in catalytic synthesis of benzene from alkynes. A theoretical study

The reaction mechanism of catalytic synthesis of benzene from alkynes by the Mo–Mo quintuple bond and the electronic structure and bonding nature of dimetallacyclobutadiene and dimetallabenzyne were studied theoretically.

On the nature of homo- and hetero-dinuclear metal–metal quadruple bonds — Analysis of the bonding situation and benchmarking DFT against wave function methods

Homo- and hetero-dimetallic (d–d)8 analogues of the formally quadruply bonded [Re2Cl8]2– system with the general formula [MM′Cl8]x (M, M′ = Tc, Re, Ru, Os, Rh, Ir and x = –2, –1, 0, +1, +2) have been calculated with the density functional theory (DFT) functionals SVWN, BLYP, BP86, PBE, OLYP, OPBE, HCTH, B3LYP, O3LYP, X3LYP, BH&HLYP, TPSS, VSXC, TPPSh, and ab initio methods (CASPT2, CCSD(T)) using basis sets of triple-ζ quality. The performance of the functionals for the description of the metal–metal bond distance and the bond dissociation energy as well as the singlet–triplet gap was evaluated with respect to ab initio data at the CASPT2 level. Generally, the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functionals, BLYP, BP86, and PBE, show good performance in the description of the metal–metal bond distance and for the dissociation energy. Hybrid functionals are not to be used for compounds of the type discussed here as they lead to increasingly too short and too weak bonds with the amount of exact exchange included. All functionals underestimate the singlet–triplet gap, with the GGA functionals BLYP, BP86, PBE being the closest to the CASPT2 values. The bonding situations of the [MM′Cl8]x compounds were analyzed at the DFT level (BP86) using the natural bond orbital (NBO) method and the energy decomposition analysis. The M–M bond in homodimetallic compounds, [MMCl8]x, becomes weaker from group 7 to group 8 to group 9 metals and the bond is weaker for 4d metal systems than for 5d transition metal compounds. The M–M bonds have approximately 50% covalent and 50% electrostatic character and the covalent contribution is dominated by the π orbitals, whereas the δ orbitals do not contribute significantly to the covalent bonding. Heterodimetallic systems, [MM′Cl8]x, have significantly stronger metal–metal bonds than the homodimetallic compounds. This comes from weaker Pauli repulsion and stronger electrostatic attraction. The most stable heterodimetallic bonds are observed for 5d–5d metal pairs.