We applied density
functional theory calculations to ruthenium–nitrosyl
complexes, which are known to exist in high-level radioactive waste
generating during reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, to give a theoretical
correlation between 99Ru Mössbauer spectroscopic
parameters and ligand field strength for the first time. The structures
of the series of complexes, [Ru(NO)L5] (L = Br–, Cl–, NH3, CN–),
were modeled based on the corresponding single-crystal X-ray coordinates.
The comparisons of the geometries and total energies between the different
spin states suggested that the singlet spin state of [Ru(II)(NO+)L5] complexes were the most stable. This result
was supported by the benchmark calculations of the 99Ru
Mössbauer isomer shift (δ) and quadrupole splitting (ΔE
Q) values. The calculated results of both the
δ and ΔE
Q values reproduced
the experimental results by reported previously and increased in the
order of L = Br–, Cl–, NH3, CN–. Finally, we estimated the ligand
field strength (Δo) based on molecular orbitals, assuming C
4v symmetry and showed the increase of Δo values in that order, being consistent with well-known spectrochemical
series of ligands. The increase attributes to the strengthening of
the abilities of σ-donor and π-acceptor of the L-ligands
to the Ru atom, resulting in the increase of the δ values. Furthermore,
the increase of the σ-type donation into Ru d
x
2–y
2
orbital and the π-type back-donation from Ru d
xz
, d
yz
orbitals in that order caused the decrease
of the electron density along the Ru-NO axis, resulting in the increase
of the ΔE
Q values. This study is
expected to contribute to the ligand design for the ruthenium–nitrosyl
complexes, leading to the drug design for NO carrier and the decontamination
of radioactive ruthenium from the ecological system, as well as the
recovery of platinum-group metals from high-level radioactive waste.