Abstract
Substitution reactions are a type of reactions where one functional group or ligand is substituted by another. They could be electrophilic or nucleophilic, depending upon whether the reagent is involved. Complex compounds could be involved in a number of substitution reactions such as ligand exchange, solvent exchange, complexation or anation reactions, solvolysis, acid and base hydrolysis, inter- and intramolecular isomerization, racemization, and metal ion reaction. Hard-soft acid–base principle (HSAB) contributes to better understanding of the mechanism of nucleophilic substitution reactions of transition metal complexes. Metal–ligand bonds in transition metal compounds are closely related to the HSAB nature of metals and their preferred ligands. Also, the principle is qualitatively useful to predict the preference of the metal for the ligand in bioinorganic reactions.
Highlights
The aim of this chapter is to present connection between hard-soft acid–base principle with bioinorganic substitution reactions
Ligand substitution reactions are the most fundamental type of chemical reaction that can occur when a metal complex is dissolved in solution in the presence of other nucleophiles
Substitution reactions of complexes are divided on electrophilic (SE) or nucleophilic (SN) depending on the replacement of either central metal ion or ligand
Summary
The aim of this chapter is to present connection between hard-soft acid–base principle with bioinorganic substitution reactions. Bioinorganic chemistry is an interdisciplinary field which connects inorganic chemistry with different types of chemistries, physics, medicine, biology, physiology, etc. This field includes studies of kinetic and thermodynamic of substitution reactions of transition metal ion coordination compounds and biomolecules such as enzymes, nucleic acids, proteins, peptides, amino acids, and others. Hard-hard or soft-soft bonds of acid and base contribute to the stabilization and strength of the bonds between donor and acceptor. These factors include the charges and sizes of the cation and donor atom, their electronegativities, and the orbital’s overlap between them
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