Copper(I)-alkene interactions are important to a number of chemical processes in both synthetic catalyst systems and in Nature. Understanding the fundamental factors that affect such binding interactions is therefore of interest and applicability to a wide variety of chemical disciplines. One particularly important factor that is known to affect the strength of copper(I)-alkene bonds is the electron-donating ability of a supporting ligand. While more basic ligands are generally observed to promote stronger copper-alkene bonds, the manner by which ligand basicity impacts this interaction is not well understood. We present here the results of a computational (DFT) investigation of the binding of the simple alkene ethylene to copper(I) complexes having a series of substituted 1,10-phenanthroline  ligands. Through a systematic �tuning� of the electron-donating ability of the ligands on the copper center, we have gained further insight into the fundamental way in which ligand basicity affects copper-alkene binding.

Elucidating the impact of ligand basicity on the binding of alkenes to copper(I) centers

239th National Meeting (2010)

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