Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Line Shape Analysis of Dynamic NMR Spectra for Characterizing Coordination Sphere Rearrangements at a Chiral Rhenium Polyhydride Complex
Published on: July 27, 2022
Rhenium(IV)-copper(II) heterobimetallic complexes with a bridge malonato ligand. Synthesis, crystal structure, and
Alicia Cuevas1, Raúl Chiozzone, Carlos Kremer
1Cátedra de Química Inorgánica y Laboratorio de Cristalografía, Facultad de Química de la Universidad de la República, Avenida General Flores 2124, CC 1157 Montevideo, Uruguay.
Abstract:
The Re(IV) complex [ReCl4(mal)]2-, in the form of two slightly different salts, (AsPh4)1.5(HNEt3)0.5[ReCl4(mal)] (1a) and (AsPh4)(HNEt3)[ReCl4(mal)] (1b), and the Re(IV)-Cu(II) bimetallic complexes [ReCl4(mu-mal)Cu(phen)2].CH3CN (2), [ReCl4(mu-mal)Cu(bpy)2] (3), and [ReCl4(mu-mal)Cu(terpy)] (4) (mal=malonate dianion, AsPh4=tetraphenylarsonium cation, HNEt3=triethylammonium cation, phen=1,10-phenanthroline, bpy=2,2'-bipyridine and terpy=2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine) have been synthesized and the structures of 1a, 1b, 2, and 3 determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structures of 1a and 1b are made up of discrete [ReCl4(mal)]2- anions and AsPh4+ and HNEt3+ cations, held together by electrostatic forces and hydrogen bonds. The Re(IV) atom is surrounded by four chloride anions and a bidentate malonate group, in a distorted octahedral environment. The structure of 2 consist of neutral dinuclear units [ReCl4(mu-mal)Cu(phen)2], with the metal ions united through a bridge carboxilato. The environment of Re(IV) is nearly identical to that in the mononuclear complex, and Cu(II) is five coordinate, being surrounded by four nitrogen atoms of two bidentate phen ligands and one oxygen atom of the malonato ligand. In 3, there are also dinuclear units, [ReCl4(mu-mal)Cu(bpy)2], but the Cu(II) ions complete a distorted octahedral coordination by binding with the free malonato oxygen atom of a neighbor unit, resulting in an infinite chain. The magnetic properties of 1-4 were also investigated in the temperature range 2.0-300 K. The magnetic behavior of 1a and 1b is as expected for a Re(IV) complex with a large value of the zero-field splitting (2D ca. 110 cm(-1)). For the bimetallic complexes, the magnetic coupling between Re(IV) and Cu(II) is antiferromagnetic in 2 (J=-0.39 cm(-1)), ferromagnetic in 4 (J=+1.51 cm(-1)), and nearly negligible in 3 (J=-0.09 cm(-1)).
Related Concept Videos
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Coordination Number and Geometry
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
Ladder Diagrams: Complexation Equilibria
The formation constant, K1, for the formation of Cd(NH3)2+ complex from cadmium and ammonia is 3.55 × 102. Log K1 (i.e. pNH3) is 2.55, and...
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...

