Mapping the stereochemistry and symmetry of tetracoordinate transition-metal complexes.

A continuous shape and symmetry study of tetracoordinate transition-metal complexes is presented, in an attempt to provide a systematic description of the stereochemistry of the metal coordination sphere in this important family of compounds. A tetrahedron/square-planar symmetry map has been developed, the main distortion paths of the ideal geometries are presented, and the applicability of a sawhorse shape measure is discussed. More than 13,000 structural data sets have been analyzed and the corresponding stereochemistries assigned from the values of their tetrahedral and square-planar symmetry measures. A good number of structures that are quite distant from the two ideal geometries can be adequately described as snapshots along the spread pathway for their interconversion, making use of the corresponding path deviation function. Further analysis of the structural data by metal electron configuration or by the denticity and conformation of the ligands provide general rules to describe the stereochemical preferences of tetracoordinate transition metal centers.