Open AccessAttribution of Water-Exchange Mechanisms of Transition-Metal Hexaaqua Ions Using Quantum Chemical Methods
Author(s) -
François P. Rotzinger
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
chimia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.387
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2673-2424
pISSN - 0009-4293
DOI - 10.2533/chimia.1997.97
Subject(s) - chemistry , transition metal , ion , molecule , associative substitution , chemical physics , transition state , metal ions in aqueous solution , metal , atomic physics , computational chemistry , catalysis , physics , organic chemistry
The mechanism for the water-exchange reaction with the transition-metal aqua ions from ScIII through ZnII has been investigated. The exchange mechanisms are analyzed on a model that involves the metal ion with six or seven water molecules. The structures of the reactants/products, transition states, and penta- or heptacoordinated intermediates have been computed with Hartree-Fock or CAS-SCF methods. Each type of mechanism, associative, concerted, or dissociative, proceeds via a characteristic transition state. The calculated activation energies agree with the experimental ΔG‡298 or ΔH‡298 values, and the computed structural changes indicate whether an expansion or compression takes place during the transformation of the reactant into the transition state. These changes are in perfect agreement with the changes deduced from the experimental volumes of activation. The dissociative mechanism is always feasible, but it is the only possible pathway for high-spin d8, d9, and d10 systems. In contrast, the associative mechanism requires that the transition-metal ion does not have more than seven 3d electrons. Thus, ScIII, TiIII, and VIII react via the A, NiII, CuII, and ZnII via the D (or Id) mechanism, whereas all pathways are feasible for the elements in the middle of the periodic table.