title: Covalent bonding and the trans influence in lanthanide compounds.
abstract: A pair of mer-octahedral lanthanide chalcogenolate coordination complexes [(THF)(3)Ln(EC(6)F(5))(3) (Ln = Er, E = Se; Ln = Yb, E = S)] have been isolated and structurally characterized. Both compounds show geometry-dependent bond lengths, with the Ln-E bonds trans to the neutral donor tetrahydrofuran (THF) significantly shorter than the Ln-E bonds that are trans to negatively charged EC(6)F(5) ligands. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the structural trans influence evidenced by the differences in these bond lengths results from a covalent Ln-E interaction involving ligand p and Ln 5d orbitals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903, USA. kroghjes@rci.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krogh-Jespersen
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Romanelli
authors.forename: Jonathan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Melman
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Emge
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Brennan