L. Maron et O. Eisenstein, Do f electrons play a role in the lanthanide-ligand bonds? A DFT study of Ln(NR2)(3); R = H, SiH3, J PHYS CH A, 104(30), 2000, pp. 7140-7143
The participation of 4f electrons in the bonding of the lanthanide complexe
s Ln(NR2)(3); R = H, SiH3, has been investigated at the DFT level. Structur
al parameters obtained with small core (f electrons in the valence) and lar
ge core (f electrons in the core) effective core potentials (ECPs) suggest
the nonparticipation of the f electrons to the Ln-N bonding. A methodologic
al study has been carried out on the lanthanide contraction with various ab
initio methods using large core ECPs. The calculated lanthanide contractio
n (0.180 Angstrom) is in excellent agreement with the experimental value (0
.179 Angstrom). Comparison of calculated structural parameters with availab
le X-ray data shows that calculations with large core ECPs and density func
tional methods quantitatively reproduce the bonding at the lanthanide.