Mapping the properties of bidentate ligands with calculated descriptors (LKB-bid)

We have extended the Ligand Knowledge Base (LKB) approach to consider a broad range of bidentate ligands, varying donors, substituents and backbones, which gives rise to a diverse set of 224 ligands in a new database, LKB-bid. Using a subset of steric and electronic parameters described previously for bidentate P,P-donor ligands (LKB-PP), here this approach has been applied to a wider set of bidentate ligands, to explore how these modifications affect the properties of organometallic complexes. The resulting database has been processed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), generating a “map” of ligand space which highlights the contribution of donor atoms and bridge length to the variation in ligand properties. This mapping of bidentate ligand space with DFT-calculated steric and electronic parameters has demonstrated that the properties of ligands with different donor atoms can be captured within a single computational approach, providing both an overview of ligand space and scope for the more detailed investigation and comparison of different ligand classes.