Electronegativity: Coordination Compounds

Abstract

The utility of electronegativity and the extended electronegativity function in describing the charge distribution in simple coordination compounds of both the representative and transition metals has been explored. The extended electronegativity function has been shown to yield excellent atomic charges and charging energies. When applied to simple coordination compounds of the representative and transition elements, there is excellent qualitative agreement between the atomic charges and charging energies with the range of chemical behaviors of these compounds. In addition, the hydrolysis constants of these complexes have been used as probes to assess the success of electronegativity and the electronegativity function in describing in a quantitative manner the distribution of charge in these molecules as well as the energetics of hydrolysis of these compounds. For these simple coordination compounds the absolute electronegativities and absolute hardnesses in conjunction with the extended electronegativity function show considerable promise in their application to coordination compounds.