The rates and activation parameters of water exchange at pH 3.0 have been determined using variable temperature 17O NMR spectroscopy for four CoII complexes and one MnII complex: [Co(bpy)(H2O)4]2+, [Co(bpy)2 (H2O)2]2+, [Co(phen)-(H2O)4]2+, [Co(phen)2 (H2O)2]2+, and [Mn(bpy)(H2O)4]2+ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridyl and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline). Substitution of aquo ligands with 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2′-bipyridyl leads to an increase in the rate of exchange in the manganese complexes, from k298 (1.8 ± 0.1) × 107 s−1 for [Mn(H2O)6]2+ to (7.2 ± 0.3) × 107 s−1 for [Mn(phen)2 (H2O)2]2+, whereas the trends are more complex for the cobalt complexes. We have used the new data in conjunction with literature data for similar complexes to analyse the effect of M–OH2 distance and degree of substitution.
