Electron Transfer between Metal Complexes — A Retrospective View (Nobel Lecture)

Redox reactions between metal complexes form the theme of Henry Taube's lifework, for which he was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for chemistry. The most interesting examples include self-exchange processes and reactions which proceed via inner-sphere activated complexes such as 1. Of importance in this connection is also the electronic situation in mixed valence complexes such as the “Creutz-Taube ion” 2.