Intramolecular MLOH/pi and MLNH/pi interactions in crystal structures of metal complexes

Abstract

Intramolecular metal-ligand OH/pi (MLOH/pi) and metal-ligand NH/pi (MLNH/pi) interactions in transition metal complexes between aqua or ammine ligand and ligand containing a C6-aromatic ring were investigated in crystal structures deposited in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). These intramolecular interactions appear in 38 structures with aqua ligand as the hydrogen atom donor and in 10 structures with ammine ligand as the hydrogen atom donor. Among all these complexes only one is negatively charged, 14 are positively charged and 33 are neutral indicating that the overall charge of the molecule has an influence on the XH/pi (X = O or N) interactions. Energy estimated by DFT calculations is approximately 19 kJ mol(-1) for the MLOH/pi interactions and approximately 15 kJ mol(-1) for the MLNH/pi interactions.