Wolfgang Petz (2188639)Bernhard Neumüller (2188636)Susanne Klein (2149063)Gernot Frenking (1569796)
The synthesis and X-ray structure analysis of the carbodiphosphorane (CDP) complexes [Hg{C(PPh<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>}<sub>2</sub>][Hg<sub>2</sub>I<sub>6</sub>] and [Cu{C(PPh<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>}<sub>2</sub>]I are reported. The cations [Hg{C(PPh<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>}<sub>2</sub>]<sup>2+</sup> and [Cu{C(PPh<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>}<sub>2</sub>]<sup>+</sup> have approximately linearly coordinated metal atoms. Quantum chemical calculations of model compounds bearing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands, [M(NHC)<sub>2</sub>] and [M{C(PH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>}<sub>2</sub>] (M = Cu<sup>+</sup>, Ag<sup>+</sup>, Au<sup>+</sup>, Zn<sup>2+</sup>, Cd<sup>2+</sup>, Hg<sup>2+</sup>), have been carried out at the BP86/TZ2P level. The metal–ligand bonds are very strong, and the bond dissociation energies exhibit a V-shaped trend for first-, second-, and third-row transition metals: Ag<sup>+</sup> < Cu<sup>+</sup> < Au<sup>+</sup> and Cd<sup>2+</sup> < Zn<sup>2+</sup> < Hg<sup>2+</sup>. The investigation of the bonding situation in the complexes using an energy decomposition analysis shows that the metal–ligand bonding comes mainly from electrostatic attraction. Inspection of the orbital interactions shows that the M<sup><i>q</i></sup>←(NHC)<sub>2</sub> and M<sup><i>q</i></sup>←{C(PH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>}<sub>2</sub> σ donation provides between 65 and 75% of the total orbital interactions Δ<i>E</i><sub>orb</sub>. The contribution of the M<sup><i>q</i></sup>→(NHC)<sub>2</sub> and M<sup><i>q</i></sup>→{C(PH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>}<sub>2</sub> π back-donation is very weak. The nature and strength of the donor–acceptor bonds of the two-electron donor ligand NHC and the four-electron donor ligand CDP with the group 11 and group 12 metal cations are very similar.
Wolfgang Petz (2188639)Bernhard Neumüller (2188636)Susanne Klein (2149063)Gernot Frenking (1569796)
Werner E. van ZylJosé M. López‐de‐LuzuriagaJohn P. FacklerRichard J. Staples
Chiara Massera (547887)Gernot Frenking (1569796)
Jeongho Yeon (1406326)Sang-Hwan Kim (527119)Sau Doan Nguyen (1985821)Hana Lee (445860)P. Shiv Halasyamani (1261704)
Pengyuan Yu (8986793)Lipiao Bao (1547935)Le Yang (345935)Debo Hao (8316846)Peng Jin (216301)Wangqiang Shen (2618326)Hongyun Fang (586276)Takeshi Akasaka (1402213)Xing Lu (1438414)