TY - JOUR A1 - Jay, Raphael Martin A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Norell, Jesper A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Niskanen, Johannes A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - The nature of frontier orbitals under systematic ligand exchange in (pseudo-)octahedral Fe(II) complexes T2 - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - Understanding and controlling properties of transition metal complexes is a crucial step towards tailoring materials for sustainable energy applications. In a systematic approach, we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to study the influence of ligand substitution on the valence electronic structure around an aqueous iron(II) center. Exchanging cyanide with 2-2′-bipyridine ligands reshapes frontier orbitals in a way that reduces metal 3d charge delocalization onto the ligands. This net decrease of metal–ligand covalency results in lower metal-centered excited state energies in agreement with previously reported excited state dynamics. Furthermore, traces of solvent-effects were found indicating a varying interaction strength of the solvent with ligands of different character. Our results demonstrate how ligand exchange can be exploited to shape frontier orbitals of transition metal complexes in solution-phase chemistry; insights upon which future efforts can built when tailoring the functionality of photoactive systems for light-harvesting applications. Y1 - 2018 UR - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/51161 SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 20 IS - 44 SP - 27745 EP - 27751 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER -