Problems of unusual hydrogen bonds between proton donors and transition metal hydrides and borohydrides

The results of experimental and theoretical studies of intermolecular MH...HX and BH...HX hydrogen bonds with the hydride hydrogen atom acting as a proton accepting site are analyzed. Spectral (IR and NMR) criteria for their formation are presented. The spectral, structural, and thermodynamic characteristics of these unusual hydrogen bonds obey the regularities found for classical hydrogen bonds. It was shown that the MH...HX bonds participate in the proton transfer with the formation of nonclassical cationic hydrides and the |M(η²-H₂|⁺ hydrogen bonds are formed in low-polarity media. Problems arising in this new line of investigations are discussed. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 846–851, May, 1998.