Comparison of Experimental and Theoretical Electronic Matrix Elements for Long-Range Electron Transfer

Abstract

The dependence of electron-transfer rates on the number of intervening groups is treated by using a single calculational method for four separate series of compounds: a biphenylyl donor and a 2-naphthyl acceptor, separated by various rigid saturated hydrocarbon bridges, a dimethoxynaphthyl donor and a dicyanovinyl acceptor, separated by norbornyl groups, a Ru(NH_3)_5^II donor and a Ru(NH_3)_5^III acceptor, separated by different numbers of dithiaspiro rings, and an OS(NH_3)_5^II donor and an Ru(NH_3)_5^III acceptor separated by an isonicotinyl plus a variable number of proline groups, which again provide a rigid spacer. The results for the electron-transfer matrix element obtained both with direct diagonalization and with the partitioning method are compared with each other, with the experimental results and, where available, with previously calculated results.

Additional details