Mössbauer analysis and modeling of the order-disorder localization-delocalization transition in the mixed-valence salt diethyl biferrocenium tri-iodide

Exploring the ground and excited state potential energy landscapes of the mixed-valence biferrocenium complex

Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) have been used to explore the potential energy landscapes in the class II (in Robin and Day classification) mixed-valence biferrocenium mono-cation (BF(+)) in an effort to evaluate factors affecting optical and thermal intramolecular electron transfer rates. Both energy- and spectroscopy-based benchmarks were used to explore the adiabatic potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the mixed-valence BF(+) cation along with the optimization of appropriate ground-, excited-, and transition-state geometries. The calculation of Mossbauer isomer shifts and quadrupole splittings, UV-vis excitation energies, and the electronic coupling matrix element, H(ab), corroborate the PES analyses. The adiabatic electron transfer pathway is also analyzed with respect to several possible vibronic coordinates. The degree of the electronic coupling between iron sites, the value of H(ab), and the nature of the electron transfer pathway correlate with the amount of Hartree-Fock exchange involved in the DFT calculation with hybrid (approximately 20% of Hartree-Fock exchange) methods providing the best agreement between theory and experiment. DFT (B3LYP) predicted values of H(ab) (839, 1085, and 1265 cm(-1)) depend on the computational method and are in good agreement with experimental data.

Electronic structure and absorption spectra of biferrocenyl and bisfulvalenide diiron radical cations: detection and assignment of new low-energy transitions

UV-visible/near-IR (NIR)/mid-IR (MIR) solution, solid-state, and matrix-isolation electronic absorption spectra of the Fe(II)-Fe(III) mixed-valent homobimetallic compounds biferrocenyl triiodide (1) and 1',1'''-diethylbiferrocenyltriiodide (2) reveal the presence of a low-energy transition in the MIR region that has not been reported before. The new absorption feature and the known NIR band are both assigned to intervalence charge-transfer (IVCT) transitions. To obtain insight into the electronic structures of 1 and 2, DFT calculations with the BP86 functionals and different basis sets have been performed. Based on the molecular orbital scheme of cation 1, one band corresponds to the transition between the highest occupied d(x(2)-y(2)) orbitals on the two iron centers, whereas the other one is assigned to a transition from a lower-lying d(z(2)) orbital to the d(x(2)-y(2)) orbital. For comparison, the doubly bridged bisfulvalenide diiron cation (3) has been investigated by optical absorption spectroscopy and DFT calculations. The experimental and theoretical results are discussed with respect to the degree of electron localization/delocalization in these systems.

Orbital Interactions in Fe(II)/Co(III) Heterobimetallocenes: Single versus Double Bridge

Ferrocenyl cobaltocenium hexafluorophosphate (1) and ferrocenylene cobaltocenylenium hexafluorophosphate (2) are investigated by a range of spectroscopic methods. Both compounds are diamagnetic, in contrast to an earlier report indicating a temperature-dependent paramagnetism of 2. Electronic absorption spectra of 1 and 2 are presented and fully assigned up to 50 000 cm(-1) on the basis of electronic structure (DFT) calculations and spectral comparisons with ferrocene and cobaltocenium. The lowest-energy bands, I, of both 1 and 2 correspond to metal-to-metal CT (MMCT) transitions; further intermetallocene charge-transfer bands are identified at higher energy (bands III and V). On the basis of the spectroscopic properties, a trans geometry and a twisted structure are derived for 1 and 2, respectively, in solution. Analysis of the I bands gives orbital mixing coefficients, alpha, electronic-coupling matrix elements, V(AB), and reorganization energies, lambda. Importantly, alpha and V(AB) are larger for 1 than for 2 (0.07 and 1200 cm(-1) vs 0.04 and approximately 600 cm(-1), respectively), apparently in contrast to the presence of one bridge in 1 and two bridges in 2. This result is explained in terms of the respective electronic and geometric structures. Reorganization energies are determined to be 7600 cm(-1) for 1 and 4600 cm(-1) for 2, in qualitative agreement with the analogous Fe(II)-Fe(III) compounds. The general implications of these findings with respect to the spectroscopic and electron-transfer properties of bimetallocenes are discussed.