Abstract: A molecular level investigation of metal-ligand interactions that govern structure and function in coordination complexes. Coordination compounds perform a wide variety of important chemical tasks, from the biochemical transport of molecules and ions to industrial applications in electrocatalysis and contaminant sequestration. Coordination chemistry with organic ligands is ubiquitous, providing chemical access to over half of the periodic table. Metal-ligand interactions govern many of the functions of these compounds, and a detailed understanding of these systems is essential in furthering our comprehension and development of coordination chemistry. Infrared spectroscopy offers a powerful probe into these interactions by reporting on molecular structure and charge distribution, and mass spectrometric preparation of cold gaseous complexes bypasses many solution-induced spectroscopic challenges. In this work, the behavior of transition metal complexes with ligands based on cyclam, bipyridine, and EDTA was investigated.
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