Structural dependencies of pyramidal inversion at sulphur and selenium in thio- and seleno- ether complexes of palladium(II) and platinum(II): A nuclear magnetic resonance study

Total NMR band shape fitting methods have provided accurate energy data for inversion barriers at sulphur and selenium in complexes of types cis-MX₂L] (M = Pd^II, Pt^II; X = Cl, Br, I; L = MeS(CH₂)₂SMe, MeS(CH₂)₃SMe, o-(SMe)₂C₆H₃Me, cis-MeSCH=CHSMe) and PtXMe{MeE(CH₂)₂E′Me}] (E= E′= S or Se and E = S, E′= Se; X = Cl, Br, I). Barrier energies were found to decrease by 10–12 kJ mol^?1 in going from aliphatic through aromatic to olefinic ligand back-bone. This can be explained in terms of (3p - 2p) π conjugation between the inverting centre and the ligand back-bone. The effects of ligand ring size, nature of halogen atom and the metal oxidation state on the barrier energies are discussed.