Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Line Shape Analysis of Dynamic NMR Spectra for Characterizing Coordination Sphere Rearrangements at a Chiral Rhenium Polyhydride Complex
Published on: July 27, 2022
Dihydrogen bonding vs metal-σ interaction in complexes between H2 and metal hydride
Ibon Alkorta1, Jose Elguero, Mohammad Solimannejad
1Instituto de Química Médica (CSIC), Juan de la Cierva, 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain. ibon@iqm.csic.es
Abstract:
The complexes formed by hydrogen with metal hydrides (LiH, NaH, BeH(2), MgH(2), BH(3), AlH(3), Li(2)H(2), Na(2)H(2), Be(2)H(4), and Mg(2)H(4)) have been theoretically studied at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ, MP2/aug-cc-pVQZ and CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//CCSD/aug-cc-pVTZ levels of theory. The hydrogen molecule can act as a Lewis acid or base. In the first case, a dihydrogen bonded complex is obtained and in the second an interaction between the σ-bond of the hydrogen molecule and an empty orbital of the metal atoms is found. Quantum theory of atoms in molecules and natural bond orbitals methods have been applied to analyze the intermolecular interactions. Additionally, the cooperativity effects are analyzed for selected complexes with two H(2) molecules where both kinds of interactions exist simultaneously.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Valence Bond Theory
Valence Bond Theory
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...
Hydrogen Bonds
Hydrogen Bonds
Complexation Equilibria: Factors Influencing Stability of Complexes

