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Water Defect Stabilizes the Bi 3+ Lone-Pair Electronic State Leading to an Unusual Aqueous Hydration Structure.

Darren M DriscollRichard C ShieryNicolas D'AnnunzioDaria BoglaienkoMahalingam BalasubramanianTatiana G LevitskaiaCarolyn I PearceNiranjan GovindDavid C CantuJohn L Fulton
Published in: Inorganic chemistry (2022)
The aqueous hydration structure of the Bi 3+ ion is probed using a combination of extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) simulations of ion-water clusters and condensed-phase solutions. Anomalous features in the EXAFS spectra are found to be associated with a highly asymmetric first-solvent water shell. The aqueous chemistry and structure of the Bi 3+ ion are dramatically controlled by the water stabilization of a lone-pair electronic state involving the mixed 6s and 6p orbitals. This leads to a distinct multimodal distribution of water molecules in the first shell that are separated by about 0.2 Å. The lone-pair structure is stabilized by a collective response of multiple waters that are localized near the lone-pair anti-bonding site. The findings indicate that the lone-pair stereochemistry of aqueous Bi 3+ ions plays a major role in the binding of water and ligands in aqueous solutions.
Keyphrases
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