Syntheses, structural analyses and redox kinetics of four-coordinate [CuL2]2+ and five-coordinate [CuL2(solvent)]2+ complexes (L = 6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine or 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline): completely gated reduction reaction of [Cu(dmp)2]2+ in nitromethane.

[Cu(2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline)(2)](2+) and [Cu(6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine)(2)](2+/+) complexes with no coordinated solvent molecule were synthesized and the crystal structures were analyzed: the coordination geometry around the Cu(i) center was in the D(2d) symmetry while a D(2) structure was observed for the four-coordinate Cu(ii) complexes. Coordination of a water or an acetonitrile molecule was found in the trigonal plane of the five-coordinate Cu(ii) complex in the Tbp(trigonal bipyramidal) structure. Spectrophotometric analyses revealed that the D(2) structure of the Cu(ii) complex was retained in nitromethane, although a five-coordinate Tbp species (green in color), was readily formed upon dissolution of the solid (reddish brown) in acetonitrile. The electron self-exchange reaction between D(2d)-Cu(I) and D(2)-Cu(II), observed by the NMR method, was very rapid with k(ex)=(1.1 +/- 0.2) x 10(5) kg mol(-1) s(-1) at 25 degrees C (DeltaH*= 15.6 +/- 1.3 kJ mol(-1) and DeltaS*=-96 +/- 4 J mol(-1) K(-1)), which was more than 10 times larger than that reported for the self-exchange reaction between D(2d)-Cu(I) and Tbp-Cu(II) in acetonitrile. The cross reduction reactions of D(2)-Cu(ii) by ferrocene and decamethylferrocene in nitromethane exhibited a completely gated behavior, while the oxidation reaction of D(2d)-Cu(i) by [Ni(1,4,7-triazacyclononane)(2)](3+) in nitromethane estimated an identically large self-exchange rate constant to that directly obtained by the NMR method. The electron self-exchange rate constant estimated from the oxidation cross reaction in 50% v/v acetonitrile-nitromethane mixture was 10 times smaller than that observed in pure nitromethane. On the basis of the Principle of the Least Motion (PLM) and the Symmetry Rules, it was concluded that gated behaviors observed for the reduction reactions of the five-coordinate Cu(ii)-polypyridine complexes are related to the high-energy C(2v)--> D(2d) conformational change around Cu(ii), and that the electron self-exchange reactions of the Cu(ii)/(i) couples are always adiabatic through the C(2v) structures for both Cu(ii) and Cu(i) since the conformational changes between D(2d), D(2) and C(2v) structures for Cu(i) as well as the conformational change between Tbp and C(2v) structures for Cu(ii) are symmetry-allowed. The completely gated behavior observed for the reduction reactions of D(2)-Cu(ii) species in nitromethane was attributed to the very slow conformational change from the ground-state D(2) to the entatic D(2d) structure that is symmetry-forbidden for d(9) metal complexes: the very slow back reaction, the forbidden conformational change from entatic D(2d) to the ground-state D(2) structure, ensures that the rate of the reduction reaction is independent of the concentration of the reducing reagent.