The three-fold symmetric, four-coordinate iron(II) phosphoraminimato complexes PhB(MesIm)3Fe-N═PRR'R″ (PRR'R″ = PMePh2, PMe2Ph, PMe3, and P(n)Pr3) undergo a thermally induced S = 0 to S = 2 spin-crossover in fluid solution. Smaller phosphoraminimato ligands stabilize the low-spin state, and an excellent correlation is observed between the characteristic temperature of the spin-crossover (T1/2) and the Tolman cone angle (θ). Complexes with para-substituted triaryl phosphoraminimato ligands (p-XC6H4)3P═N(-) (X = H, Me and OMe) also undergo spin-crossover in solution. These isosteric phosphoraminimato ligands reveal that the low-spin state is stabilized by more strongly donating ligands. This control over the spin state provides important insights for modulating the magnetic properties of four-coordinate iron(II) complexes.

The structure and reactivity of discrete iron nitride complexes is described. Six-coordinate, four-fold symmetric nitrides are thermally unstable, and have been characterized at cryogenic temperatures by an arsenal of spectroscopic methods. By contrast, four-coordinate, three-fold symmetric iron nitrides can be prepared at room temperature. A range of diamagnetic iron(IV) nitrides have been reported and in some cases, isolated. Among these are the isolable, yet reactive, tris(carbene)borate iron(IV) nitrides. These complexes can effect two-electron nitrogen atom transfer to a range of substrates, in some cases with complete atom transfer occuring through Fe-N bond cleavage. These nitrides are also active in single electron pathways, including the synthesis of ammonia by a mechanism involving hydrogen atom transfer to the nitride ligand. One-electron oxidation of a tris(carbene)borate iron(IV) nitride leads to an isolable iron(V) complex that is unusually reactive for a metal nitride.

The recently synthesized and isolated low-coordinate FeV nitride complex has numerous implications as a model for high-oxidation states in biological and industrial systems. The trigonal [PhB(tBuIm)3FeV≡N]+ (where (PhB(tBuIm)3– = phenyltris(3-tert-butylimidazol-2-ylidene)), (1) low-spin d3 (S = 1/2) coordination compound is subject to a Jahn–Teller (JT) distortion of its doubly degenerate 2E ground state. The electronic structure of this complex is analyzed by a combination of extended versions of the formal two-orbital pseudo Jahn–Teller (PJT) treatment and of quantum chemical computations of the PJT effect. The formal treatment is extended to incorporate mixing of the two e orbital doublets (30%) that results from a lowering of the idealized molecular symmetry from D3h to C3v through strong “doming” of the Fe–C3 core. Correspondingly we introduce novel DFT/CASSCF computational methods in the computation of electronic structure, which reveal a quadratic JT distortion and significant e–e mixing, thus reaching a new level of synergism between computational and formal treatments. Hyperfine and quadrupole tensors are obtained by pulsed 35 GHz ENDOR measurements for the 14/15N-nitride and the 11B axial ligands, and spectra are obtained from the imidazole-2-ylidene 13C atoms that are not bound to Fe. Analysis of the nitride ENDOR tensors surprisingly reveals an essentially spherical nitride trianion bound to Fe, with negative spin density and minimal charge density anisotropy. The four-coordinate 11B, as expected, exhibits negligible bonding to Fe. A detailed analysis of the frontier orbitals provided by the electronic structure calculations provides insight into the reactivity of 1: JT-induced symmetry lowering provides an orbital selection mechanism for proton or H atom transfer reactivity.

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introductionOver the years a large number of techniques have been developed to probe different aspects of the physics and chemistry of surfaces, however, only a few have found wide application in basic surface science and applied surface analysis [1]. The choice of the technique depends upon the type of the characterization to be made. Among the most widely used methods are X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) are used to study the surface chemical composition. Similarly, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to investigate the surface morphology of the material in atomic scale. These methods require relatively expensive equipments, skilled technicians and sophisticated techniques to interpret data. [2][3]. Measurement of surface energy of the solid can also provide a good understanding of the surface properties of a solid using relatively a very simple approach. The surface energy of a solid can be determined from the measurement of contact angle of a pure liquid drop on that solid. Contact angle measurement has been used in the study of surface energy, wettability and adhesion of low surface energy materials. In this paper, the theory of contact angle measurement and an important model for the determination of surface energy will be discussed. theory of Contact Angle Measurement