Structural studies on the glycolato, lactato, and mandelato solid complexes of some bivalent iron series metals
Electronic absorption spectra, infrared vibrational spectra, and X-ray powder patterns have been measured for anhydrous bis(glycolato), bis(lactato), and bis(mandelato) complexes of bivalent Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn. Despite indications of considerable differences in crystal structure, the visible spectra of all complexes are quite similar to those of analogous hexaaquo complexes. A ligand field analysis yields as new data a spectrochemical series for the ligands[Formula: see text]in agreement with the order of proposed metal–oxygen stretch frequencies and previously measured acid pK's of the ligands.An interesting red to blue color change, observed in all cobalt complexes on heating, is shown to be reversible in the glycolate. A tentative model proposed for the complex appears to be consistent with all the experimental data including the color change phenomena.