Bonding and Structure
Most complexes containing the NO ligand can be viewed as derivatives of the nitrosyl cation, NO+. The nitrosyl cation is isoelectronic with carbon monoxide, thus the bonding between a nitrosyl ligand and a metal follows the same principles as the bonding in carbonyl complexes. The nitrosyl cation serves as a two-electron donor to the metal and accepts electrons from the metal via back-bonding. The compounds Co(NO)(CO)3 and Ni(CO)4 illustrate the analogy between NO+ and CO. Similarly, two NO groups are isoelectronic with three CO groups. This trend is illustrated by the isoelectronic pair Fe(CO)2(NO)2 and . These complexes are isoelectronic and, incidentally, both obey the 18-electron rule. The formal description of nitric oxide as NO+ does not match certain measureable and calculated properties. In an alternative description, nitric oxide serves as a 3-electron donor, and the metal-nitrogen interaction is a triple bond.
Read more about this topic: Metal Nitrosyl Complex
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