A density functional theory and quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules analysis of the stability of Ni(II) complexes of some amino alcohol ligands.

The structure of the complexes of the type [Ni(L)(H(2)O)(2)](2+), where L is an amino alcohol ligand, L = N,N'-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-ethane-1,2-diamine (BHEEN), N,N'-bis(2-hydroxycyclohexyl)-ethane-1,2-diamine (Cy(2)EN), and N,N'-bis(2-hydroxycyclopentyl)-ethane-1,2-diamine, (Cyp(2)EN) were investigated at the X3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory both in the gas phase and in solvent (CPCM model) to gain insight into factors that control the experimental log K(1) values. We find that (i) analyses based on Bader's quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) are useful in providing significant insight into the nature of metal-ligand bonding and in clarifying the nature of weak "nonbonded" interactions in these complexes and (ii) the conventional explanation of complex stability in these sorts of complexes (based on considerations of bond lengths, bite angles and H-clashes) could be inadequate and indeed might be misleading. The strength of metal-ligand bonds follows the order Ni-N > Ni-OH ≥ Ni-OH(2); the bonds are predominantly ionic with some covalent character decreasing in the order Ni-N > Ni-OH > Ni-OH(2), with Ni-OH(2) being close to purely ionic. We predict that the cis complexes are preferred over the trans complexes because of (i) stronger bonding to the alcoholic O-donor atoms and (ii) more favorable intramolecular interactions, which appear to be important in determining the conformation of a metal-ligand complex. We show that (i) the flexibility of the ligand, which controls the Ni-OH bond length, and (ii) the ability of the ligand to donate electron density to the metal are likely to be important factors in determining values of log K(1). We find that the electron density at the ring critical point of the cyclopentyl moieties in Cyp(2)EN is much higher than that in the cyclohexyl moieties of Cy(2)EN and interpret this to mean that Cyp(2)EN is a poorer donor of electron density to a Lewis acid than Cy(2)EN.