Interconnection of the indenyl ligands of bis(indenyl)zirconiu
m dichloride co
mplexes by a1,1'-positioned Me
2Si or (CH
2)
2 bridge causes pronounced bathochro
mic shifts of the longestwavelength UV/vis absorption bands by ca. 50 n
m, while
much s
maller shifts are caused bya Me
2Si bridge in otherwise analogous bis(cyclopentadienyl) co
mplexes. Extended H&uu
ml;ckelMO calculations show that overlap between the e
mpty 4d orbitals of the ZrCl
22+ frag
mentand the highest filled
mages/gifchars/pi.gif" BORDER=0 > orbitals of the indenyl anions is decreased when a Me
2Si bridgeforces the indenyl ligands into a lateral orientation. Consequences of this orbital
mis
match,e.g. on electron densities at the Zr center, are discussed.