Disentanglement of donation and back-donation effects on experimental observables: a case study of gold-ethyne complexes

Abstract

A charge-displacement analysis of gold-ethyne complexes shows the existence of a quantitative relationship between measurable properties and the chemical bond constituents in the Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model. Through suitable experiments, these constituents may be disentangled and crucial insight into the nature of coordination bonds may thus be gained.

Keywords: alkyne ligands; bond theory; density functional calculations; gold; multiple bonds.