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Abstract

Herein, we utilize a variety of physical methods including magnetometry (SQUID), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), in conjunction with high-level ab initio theory to probe both the ground and ligand-field excited electronic states of a series of V(IV) (S = 1/2) and V(III) (S = 1) molecular complexes. The ligand fields of the central metal ions are analyzed with the aid of ab initio ligand-field theory (AILFT), which allows for a chemically meaningful interpretation of multireference electronic structure calculations at the level of the complete-active-space self-consistent field with second-order N-electron valence perturbation theory. Our calculations are in good agreement with all experimentally investigated observables (magnetic properties, EPR, and MCD), making our extracted ligand-field theory parameters realistic. The ligand fields predicted by AILFT are further analyzed with conventional angular overlap parametrization, allowing the ligand field to be decomposed into individual σ- and π-donor contributions from individual ligands. The results demonstrate in VO²⁺ complexes that while the axial vanadium–oxo interaction dominates both the ground- and excited-state properties of vanadyl complexes, proximal coordination can significantly modulate the vanadyl bond covalency. Similarly, the electronic properties of V(III) complexes are particularly sensitive to the available σ and π interactions with the surrounding ligands. The results of this study demonstrate the power of AILFT-based analysis and provide the groundwork for the future analysis of vanadium centers in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts.