Unusual electronic effects imparted by bridging dinitrogen: an experimental and theoretical investigation.

We describe the preparation, structural and magnetic characterizations, and electronic structure calculations for a redox-related family of dinitrogen-bridged chromium acetylide complexes containing the [RC(2)Cr(μ-N(2))CrC(2)R](n+) (R = Ph-, (i)Pr(3)Si-; n = 0, 1, 2) backbone: [(dmpe)(4)Cr(2)(C(2)Ph)(2)(μ-N(2))] (1), [(dmpe)(4)Cr(2)(C(2)Si(i)Pr(3))(2)(μ-N(2))] (2), [(dmpe)(4)Cr(2)(C(2)Si(i)Pr(3))(2)(μ-N(2))]BAr(F)(4) (3), and [(dmpe)(4)Cr(2)(C(2)Si(i)Pr(3))(2)(μ-N(2))](BAr(F)(4))(2) (4). Compounds 3 and 4 are synthesized via chemical oxidation of 2 with [Cp(2)Co](+) and [Cp*(2)Fe](+), respectively. X-ray structural analyses show that the alteration of the formal Cr oxidation states does not appreciably change the Cr-N-N-Cr skeletal structures. Magnetic data collected for 2 and 4 are consistent with high-spin triplet and quintet ground states, respectively. The mixed-valent complex 3 exhibits temperature dependent magnetic behavior consistent with a quartet ⇌ doublet two-center spin equilibrium. Electronic structure calculations (B3LYP) performed on the full complexes in 2 and 4 suggest that the high-spin states arise from singly occupied orthogonal π* orbitals coupled with a variable occupation of dδ orbitals. Significant N-N and Cr-N π-bonding pins the occupation of the π manifold, leading to variable occupation of the dδ space. In contrast, mixed-valent 3 is not well described by a B3LYP hybrid density functional model. A [9,11] CAS-SORCI study on a simplified model of 3 reproduces the observed Hund's rule violation for the S = 1/2 ground state and places the lowest quartet 1.45 kcal/mol above the doublet ground state.