In this paper a unified description of the effects of the coherent and incoherent dihydrogen exchange on the NMR and INS spectra of transition metal hydrides based on the quantum-mechanical density matrix formalism of Alexander-Binsch is proposed. The dynamic parameters of the line shape analyses are the exchange couplings or rotational tunnel splittings J of the coherent exchange and the rate constants k of the incoherent exchange. As experimental examples, we report the temperature dependent values J and k for 1 ≡ Cp*RuH 3 (PCy 3 ) (Cp* ≡ C 5 (CH 3 ) 5 and Cy ≡ cyclohexyl) including the kinetic HH/HD/DD isotope effects on the incoherent exchange, determined by NMR, and for the tungsten dihydrogen complex 2 ≡ W(PCy 3 ) 2 (CO) 3 -(η-H 2 ), determined by INS. The temperature dependence of J and k is interpreted qualitatively in terms of a simple reaction scheme involving at each temperature a ground state and a dominant ro-vibrationally excited state. Using formal kinetics it is shown that a coherent exchange in the excited state contributes to J only if this exchange presents the rate limiting reaction step, i.e., if vibrational deactivation is fast. This is the case for levels located substantially below the top of the barrier. A very fast coherent exchange of levels located close to the top of the barrier contributes only to k. This result reproduces in a simple way the quantummechanical results of Szymanski, S.

The structure and spectral signatures of the protonated homodimer of pyridine in its complex with a poorly coordinating anion have been studied in solution in CDF(3)/CDClF(2) down to 120 K and in a single crystal. In both phases, the hydrogen bond is asymmetric. In the solution, the proton is involved in a fast reversible transfer that determines the multiplicity of NMR signals and the sign of the primary H/D isotope effect of --0.95 ppm. The proton resonates at 21.73 ppm that is above any value reported in the past and is indicative of a very short hydrogen bond. By combining X-ray diffraction analysis with model computations, the position of the proton in the crystal has been defined as d(N-H) = 1.123 Å and d(H···N) = 1.532 Å. The same distances have been estimated using a (15)N NMR correlation. The frequency of the protonic out-of-plane bending mode is 822 cm(-1) in agreement with Novak's correlation.

Opal has long fascinated scientists. It is one of the few minerals with an amorphous structure, and yet, compared to silica glass, it is highly organized on the mesoscale. By means of inelastic neutron scattering (INS), we could document that in four samples of opal at low temperature an ice-like structure of water is present, with details depending on microstructural characteristics. While FTIR spectra for all samples are nearly identical and thus not very informative, INS shows clear differences, highlighting the significance of microstructures. Neutron diffraction at 100 K on one of the opal samples provides evidence for crystalline cubic ice.