Necessary conditions for the photogeneration of nitrosyl linkage isomers

We investigate the fundamental necessary conditions for optical generation of nitrosyl linkage isomers in ML(5)NO compounds (M = transition metal, L arbitrary ligand) on the examples of K(3)Mn(CN)(5)NO.2H(2)O and Na(2)Fe(CN)(5)NO.2H(2)O. We show that the NO linkage isomers of the side-on bonded type (SII, 90 degrees rotation of NO) and of the isonitrosyl type M-ON, where NO is O-bound to the metal M (SI, 180 degrees rotation of NO), can be generated if two conditions are fullfilled. First the optical excitation must lead to a change in the bond between the NO group and the central metal atom M, either by a metal-to-ligand charge transfer of type d -->pi*(NO) or by a d-->d(z(2)) transition, which changes the sigma bonding of the NO group to the metal, such that the vibrational deformation mode delta(M-N-O) can drive the system into the SII configuration. Second the excited state potential must posses a minimum close to the saddle point of the ground state surface between GS and SII, SI, or cross that surface, such that the relaxation from the excited state into the metastable minima can occur. The same is true for transfers between the two metastable states SII and SI. As a further constraint with respect to the amount of population, i.e. the number of complexes which can be transferred into SII or SI, the cross sections sigma(GS,SII,SI) of the states GS, SII, and SI must be considered. If sigma(GS) > sigma(SII) and sigma(SI) > sigma(SII) SII can be occupied while SI can be significantly occupied if sigma(GS) > sigma(SI) and sigma(SII) > sigma(SI). More simply speaking the depletion rate of the metastable state should be smaller than its population rate for a given wavelength.