Oxygen-Carrying Iridium Complexes: Kinetics, Mechanism, and Thermodynamics

Abstract

The rates of oxygenation and deoxygenation of a series of iridium complexes increase and decrease, respectively, with increasing electron-releasing tendency of the anionic ligands (A) attached to the metal atom in the oxygencarrying compounds, [IrA(CO)(Ph(3)P)(2)]. Calculated heats of oxygenation (-DeltaH(2)(0)), related to Ir-O(2) bond energies, are proportional to the previously reported O-O bond lengths in the oxygen adducts, [O(2)IrA(CO)(Ph(3)P)(2)].