title: Ligand association/dissociation paths and ill-defined coordination numbers.
abstract: The continuous shape measures approach provides a means for handling the common situation in which a metal atom presents an ill-defined coordination number. Those cases are characterized by the presence of secondary interactions to Lewis bases at distances significantly longer than those expected for a chemical bond. Systematic ways of analyzing ligand association/dissociation pathways that describe such structures and their application to a variety of specific cases are presented. The concepts and methodology presented here apply to molecules and extended solids as well and provide, when needed, a more flexible and precise stereochemical description of the metal coordination sphere than that of an integer coordination number and the associated polyhedral shape.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Química Inorgànica and Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Martínez
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alvarez