Issue 3, 2008

Molecular structures of M(But)3 (M = Al, Ga, In) using gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations: experimental and computational evidence for charge-transfer processes leading to photodissociation

Abstract

The gas-phase structures of Al(But)3 and Ga(But)3 have been investigated by electron diffraction and are shown to consist of monomeric units with very slightly pyramidal geometries. Salient structural parameters (rh1) include rAl–C = 2.008(2) Å and rGa–C = 2.032(2) Å. For both compounds the ligand orientations and geometries are controlled by interligand interactions. The structures of M(But)3 (M = Al, Ga, In) have been calculated ab initio and those for the aluminium and gallium derivatives are in good agreement with the electron-diffraction structures. Comparison of the ab initio calculated structure of In(But)3 with those of Al(But)3 and Ga(But)3 suggests that the significantly different photochemistry exhibited by the former does not result from structural factors. In fact the compounds undergo a charge-transfer process in the UV region, with the wavelength required calculated to be slightly longer for the indium compound than for the other two.

Graphical abstract: Molecular structures of M(But)3 (M = Al, Ga, In) using gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations: experimental and computational evidence for charge-transfer processes leading to photodissociation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Sep 2007
Accepted
09 Nov 2007
First published
12 Dec 2007

Dalton Trans., 2008, 404-410

Molecular structures of M(But)3 (M = Al, Ga, In) using gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations: experimental and computational evidence for charge-transfer processes leading to photodissociation

A. Keys, P. T. Brain, C. A. Morrison, R. L. Callender, B. A. Smart, D. A. Wann, H. E. Robertson, D. W. H. Rankin and A. R. Barron, Dalton Trans., 2008, 404 DOI: 10.1039/B714168H

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