This survey of metal–metal
(MM) bond distances in binuclear
complexes of the first row 3d-block elements reviews experimental
and computational research on a wide range of such systems. The metals
surveyed are titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt,
nickel, copper, and zinc, representing the only comprehensive presentation
of such results to date. Factors impacting MM bond lengths that are
discussed here include (a) the formal MM bond order, (b) size of the
metal ion present in the bimetallic core (M2)
n+, (c) the metal oxidation state, (d) effects of
ligand basicity, coordination mode and number, and (e) steric effects
of bulky ligands. Correlations between experimental and computational
findings are examined wherever possible, often yielding good agreement
for MM bond lengths. The formal bond order provides a key basis for
assessing experimental and computationally derived MM bond lengths.
The effects of change in the metal upon MM bond length ranges in binuclear
complexes suggest trends for single, double, triple, and quadruple
MM bonds which are related to the available information on metal atomic
radii. It emerges that while specific factors for a limited range
of complexes are found to have their expected impact in many cases,
the assessment of the net effect of these factors is challenging.
The combination of experimental and computational results leads us
to propose for the first time the ranges and “best”
estimates for MM bond distances of all types (Ti–Ti through
Zn–Zn, single through quintuple).