Probing the Donor Properties of Pincer Ligands Using Rhodium Carbonyl Fragments: An Experimental and Computational Case Study.

Metal carbonyls are commonly employed probes for quantifying the donor properties of monodentate ligands. With a view to extending this methodology to -tridentate "pincer" ligands, the spectroscopic properties [ν(CO), , ] of rhodium(I) and rhodium(III) carbonyl complexes of the form [Rh(pincer)(CO)][BAr ] and [Rh(pincer)Cl(CO)][BAr ] have been critically analysed for four pyridyl-based pincer ligands, with two flanking oxazoline (NNN), phosphine (PNP), or N-heterocyclic carbene (CNC) donors. Our investigations indicate that the carbonyl bands of the rhodium(I) complexes are the most diagnostic, with frequencies discernibly decreasing in the order NNN > PNP > CNC. To gain deeper insight, a DFT-based energy decomposition analysis was performed and identified important bonding differences associated with the conformation of the pincer backbone, which clouds straightforward interpretation of the experimental IR data. A correlation between the difference in carbonyl stretching frequencies Δν(CO) and calculated thermodynamics of the Rh/Rh redox pairs was identified and could prove to be a useful mechanistic tool.