Noncovalent interactions of Zn+ with N-donor ligands (pyridine, 4,4'-dipyridyl, 2,2'-dipyridyl, and 1,10-phenanthroline): collision-induced dissociation and theoretical studies

The binding interactions in complexes of Zn(+) with nitrogen donor ligands, (N-L) = pyridine (x = 1-4), 4,4'-dipyridyl (x = 1-3), 2,2'-dipyridyl (x = 1-2), and 1,10-phenanthroline (x = 1-2), are examined in detail. The bond dissociation energies (BDEs) for loss of an intact ligand from the Zn(+)(N-L)(x) complexes are reported. Experimental BDEs are obtained from thermochemical analyses of the threshold regions of the collision-induced dissociation cross sections of Zn(+)(N-L)(x) complexes. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory are performed to determine stable structures of these species and to provide molecular parameters needed for the thermochemical analysis of experimental data. Relative stabilities of the various conformations of these N-donor ligands and their complexes to Zn(+) as well as theoretical BDEs are determined from single point energy calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p) and M06/6-311+G(2d,2p) levels of theory using the B3LYP/6-31G* optimized geometries. The experimental BDEs for the Zn(+)(N-L)(x) complexes are in reasonably good agreement with values derived from density functional theory calculations. BDEs derived from M06 calculations provide better agreement with the measured values than those based on B3LYP calculations. Trends in the sequential BDEs are explained in terms of sp polarization of Zn(+) and repulsive ligand-ligand interactions. Comparisons are made to the analogous Cu(+)(N-L)(x) and Ni(+)(N-L)(x) complexes previously studied.