Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Preparation of Polyoxometalate-based Photo-responsive Membranes for the Photo-activation of Manganese Oxide Catalysts
Published on: August 7, 2018
First-Principles Study on Structural and Chemical Asymmetry of a Biomimetic Water-Splitting Dimanganese Complex
Ting Zhou1, Xiangsong Lin2, Xiao Zheng1,3
1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Abstract:
Density-functional theory calculations are carried out for a biomimetic dimanganese complex, [H2O(terpy)Mn(III)(μ-O)2Mn(IV)(terpy)OH2](3+)(1, terpy = 2,2':6',2″-terpyridine), which is a structural model for the oxygen evolving center of photosystem II. Theoretical investigations aim at elucidating the asymmetry features in the geometric and electronic structures of complex 1, as well as their influences on the chemical functions of the two manganese centers, in the presence of water solvent. With the insight gained from the first-principles calculations, we study the oxidation state of complex 1 in the acetate buffer solution. Both the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects are explored in detail, and the structural and chemical asymmetry of the two manganese centers is fully considered. It is found that the larger steric repulsion associated with the Mn(IV) center plays a decisive role, which leads to the predominant acetate coordination at the Mn(III) ion. This thus resolves the existing controversy on the preferential acetate binding to complex 1.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
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...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Valence Bond Theory
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
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...
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...

