TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Josefsson, Ida A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - de Groot, Frank M. F. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - From Ligand Fields to Molecular Orbitals: Probing the Local Valence Electronic Structure of Ni2+ in Aqueous Solution with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering T2 - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - Bonding of the Ni2+(aq) complex is investigated with an unprecedented combination of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements and ab initio calculations at the Ni L absorption edge. The spectra directly reflect the relative energies of the ligand-field and charge-transfer valence-excited states. They give element-specific access with atomic resolution to the ground-state electronic structure of the complex and allow quantification of ligand-field strength and 3d-3d electron correlation interactions in the Ni2+(aq) complex. The experimentally determined ligand-field strength is 10Dq = 1.1 eV. This and the Racah parameters characterizing 3d-3d Coulomb interactions B = 0.13 eV and C = 0.42 eV as readily derived from the measured energies match very well with the results from UV-vis spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate how L-edge RIXS can be used to complement existing spectroscopic tools for the investigation of bonding in 3d transition-metal coordination compounds in solution. The ab initio RASPT2 calculation is successfully used to simulate the L-edge RIXS spectra. Y1 - 2013 UR - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/34506 SN - 1520-6106 VL - 117 IS - 51 SP - 16512 EP - 16521 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER -