Solvent Effects on Solvent Exchange Reactions at Nickel(II) Centers
Several recent correlations relating kinetics of Ni(II) complex formation and solvent exchange to solvent properties are examined after collection of literature and new experiments on solvent exchange kinetics at Ni(II) when onlythesolvent is varied (entering group, leaving group, and nonlabile ligands held constant). The results indicate solvent exchange is remarkably insensitive to bulk solvent. It is suggested that this implies that the interesting correlations of complex formation rates with solvents introduced by Bennetto and Caldin provide a means to study the solvent dependence of the encounter equilibria between a Ni(II) complex and a ligand L. The linear relationship between enthalpies and entropies of activation for reactions at Ni(II) in different media is attributed to the changes in the ligands bound to the Ni(II) center but not undergoing substitution in the reaction observed.