Interpretation of n-donor specific solvent effect on electronic spectra of copper acetate and chloride complexes by intermolecular perturbation theory

Abstract

A simple second order intermolecular perturbation theory is proposed in the Fukui approximation to account for the electronic spectral behavior of electron acceptor solutes dissolved in pure n-donor solvents. This double perturbation theory considers explicitly both the solvating and complexing effects of the solvent. Using the electronic spectral data of mono- and binuclear copper acetate and chloride complexes obtained in pure pyridine derivatives it is shown that the predicted shifts brought about by increasing n-donor ability of solvent are fully corroborated by experiment. The sensitivity of mononuclear copper complexes to steric effects is also confirmed and it is shown that binuclear ones are not sensitive to this effect. New ionization potential values have also been determined using a simple interpolation–standardization procedure.