The crystal and molecular structure of potassium aquapentachloroiridate(III) and the H, C, N NMR coordination shifts in iridium(III) chloride complexes with 2,2′-bipyridine or 1,10-phenanthroline

The crystal and molecular structure of potassium aquapentachloroiridate(III) (K₂[Ir(H₂O)Cl₅]) was reported. The [Ir(H₂O)Cl₅]²⁻ anions are nearly octahedral, the axial Ir–Cl bond (2.322(2) Å) being shorter than the equatorial ones (2.346(2)–2.360(2) Å); the Ir–O bond length is 2.090(4) Å. Ir(III) chloride complexes with 2,2′-bipyridine (LL = bpy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (LL = phen), of the general formulae K[Ir(LL)Cl₄] and cis-[Ir(LL)₂Cl₂]Cl, were studied by far-IR and ¹H–¹³C, ¹H–¹⁵N HMBC/HMQC/HSQC–NMR. High-frequency ¹H NMR coordination shifts (Δ^1H_coord = δ^1H_complex − δ^1H_ligand; max. ca. +1 ppm) were noted for [Ir(LL)Cl₄]⁻ anions, while for cis-[Ir(LL)₂Cl₂]⁺ cations they had variable sign and magnitude (max. ca. ±1 ppm); they were dependent on the proton position, being mostly expressed for the nitrogen-adjacent hydrogens (H(6) for bpy, H(2) for phen). ¹³C NMR signals were high-frequency shifted (by max. ca. 8 ppm), whereas all ¹⁵N nuclei were shifted to the lower frequency (by ca. 105–120 ppm). The experimental ¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁵N NMR chemical shifts were reproduced by semi-empirical quantum-chemical calculations (B3LYP/LanL2DZ+6-31G^**//B3LYP/LanL2DZ+6-31G*).