The bonding in second row transition metal dihydrides,difluorides and dichlorides

Summary The dihydrides, the difluorides and the dichlorides of the second row transition metal atoms from yttrium to palladium have been studied with methods including electron correlation of all valence electrons. Comparisons are made to the previously studied corresponding diatomic systems. It is found that the general trends of the binding energies of the second hydride and halide remain the same as in the diatomic hydrides and halides. The second ligand binding energies for the dihalides thus vary much more than for the dihydrides. This is due to important attractive effects between the halide lone-pairs and empty 4d-orbitals to the left and strong repulsions towards occupied 4d-orbitals to the right. For some systems the second ligand binds much more than the first ligand, as for RuF₂ where the difference is 34.3 kcal/mol, whereas for other systems the reverse is true, as for PdCl₂ where the first ligand binds more than the second with 20.4 kcal/mol. The results can be explained by strong ligand field effects and differences in the atomic spectra.