Dihydrogen Bonding, Proton Transfer and Beyond: What We Can Learn from Kinetics and Thermodynamics

Abstract

AbstractHydrogen bonding to transition metal hydride complexes and its role in the proton transfer process has been a subject of the authors' research interest in recent years. The present microreview analyzes the relationships of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of dihydrogen bonding, MH···HA, proton transfer, yielding [M(η2‐H2)] species, and subsequent steps such as [M(η2‐H2)] to [M(H)2] isomerization or H2 evolution on the basis of all data acquired so far. It aims at showing the factors that determine the stability of the species involved, the physico‐chemical (thermodynamic and kinetic) origin of the effects observed, and, ideally, allow one to better govern the hydrides reactivity.