Theoretical study of the electronic structure of a tetragonal chromium(III) complex

The low-temperature single-crystal polarized absorption and the luminescence spectra of Cs₂[CrCl₂(H₂O)₄]Cl₃ are theoretically analyzed in order to determine the electronic structure of the trans-[CrCl₂(H₂O)₄]⁺ complex. This study, based on the Racah theory, leads to a good agreement between the theoretical and experimental energy levels. The electronic-exited state ⁴T_2g(O_h) is split into ⁴E_g and ⁴B_2g components due to the lowering of the symmetry from O_h to D_4h. The polarized absorption spectrum and the theoretical energies show that the ⁴E_g(D_4h) state is lower in energy than the ⁴B_2g(D_4h) state. The resolved vibronic structure in the luminescence spectrum reveals a progression in a non-totally symmetric b_1g mode, a manifestation of a Jahn-Teller effect in the emitting state ⁴T_2g(O_h). Both Jahn-Teller and spin-orbit coupling in the orbitally degenerated ⁴E_g(D_4h) state are necessary to account for the spectroscopic observations.