Simple charge-transfer model for metallic complexes.

In the chemistry of metallic complexes, two important concepts have been used to rationalize the recognition and selectivity of a host by a guest: preorganization and complementarity. Both of these concepts stem from geometrical features. Less explored in the literature has been the interactional complementarity, where mainly the electronic factors in the intermolecular forces are involved. Because the charge transfer between a species rich in electrons (ligand) and another deficient in them (cation) is one of the main intermolecular factors that control the binding energies in metallic complexes, for such systems, we propose a simple model based on density functional theory. We define an interactional energy in which the geometrical energy changes are subtracted from the binding energies and just the electronic factors are taken into account. The model is tested for the complexation between bidentate and cyclic ligands and Ca, Pb, and Hg metal dications. The charge-transfer energy described by our model fits nicely with the interactional energy. Thus, when the geometrical changes do not contribute in a significant way to the complexation energy, the interactional energy is dominated by charge-transfer effects.