Talk:Ditungsten tetra(hpp)

Quadruple bond

OK, so we don't need to mention the 18-electron calculation, but should we at least mention the quadruple bond between the two tungsten centers?—Tetracube (talk) 23:37, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

How to lower the ionization energy

Couldn't one lower the ionization energy of this molecule even further by sticking methyl, trimethylsilyl or other electropositive groups onto the hpp ligands? I'm wondering if it might be possible to make the ionization energy arbitrarily small this way, or if there is a theoretical minimum. Stonemason89 (talk) 03:04, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

Good idea. The practical problem is usually that the modified ligands are often tricky to make, and highly basic ligands are difficult to deprotonate. All sorts of problems arise when one modifies ligands - they become too bulky, they do outer sphere redox, they become fragile, etc, but that's life for molecule makers. Now in terms of "arbitrarily" lowering the IP, I dnt think so You'd reach a limit pretty soon, in part because the effects of substituents are so attenuated (the redox center is the W₂ unit). My impression is that this game has been played before with metallocenes, polyaminobenzenes and other systems. But good idea if you can devise a weaker binucleating, monoprotic acid than guanidines. --Smokefoot (talk) 03:37, 20 September 2010 (UTC)