Five-co-ordinated copper(II) complexes: a new look at the isomerization from trigonal-bipyramidal to square-pyramidal geometry in bis(bipyridyl)-(monodentate ligand)copper(II) and related complexes

Abstract

A new method of analysis of the structures of the five-co-ordinated copper(II) complexes is proposed, in order to place them along an ideal pathway for the isomerization reaction from the trigonal-bipyramidal geometry to the square-pyramidal one. The reliability of the method, which takes into account all the possible Berry mechanisms, has been verified by correlating it with some structural parameters independent of its formulation. The method has also been applied to the analysis of the structures of [Cu(bipy)₂X] and [Cu(phen)₂X] complexes (bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, X = monodentate ligand).