Theoretical Study of the Metal–Metal Interaction in Dipalladium(I) Complexes

Correlated ab initio calculations have been performed on three dipalladium(I) complexes. These compounds differ both by the metal–metal interaction and by the metal–ligand interaction. The Pd₂Cl₂(μ −H₂PCH₂PH₂)₂] complex exhibits a σ overlap between the two binding metallic orbitals and has no bridging ligand. In Pd₂Cl₄(μ −CO)₂]²⁻, the leading interaction between the two palladium involves a π overlap between the metallic orbitals and goes through the two bridging CO ligands. In Pd₂Cl₂(μ −CO)(μ −H₂PCH₂ PH₂)₂], a single CO ligand bridges the two palladium atoms which interact through a hybrid σ–δ overlap. The three compounds also differ by the metal–metal distances. Surprisingly enough, while the palladium atoms are formally d ⁹ in all these complexes, none of them is paramagnetic. We propose here a detailed analysis of the electronic structures of these compounds and rationalize their chemical structures as well as the role of back-donation in the CO bridged compounds. Finally, since highly correlated treatments are used to describe these complexes, a detailed study of the role of both non-dynamical and dynamical correlations is performed. Concerning the Pd₂Cl₄(μ −CO)₂]²⁻ complex, this analysis has revealed that the complex is not bound at the lowest correlated levels of calculation and therefore dynamical correlation is alone responsible for its binding energy.