Аннотация:Copper(II) complexes are extremely labile with typical ligand exchange rate constants on the order of 106-109 M-1 s-1. As a result, it is often difficult to identify the actual formation mechanism of these complexes. In this work, using UV-vis transient absorption when probing in a broad time range (20 ps to 8 μs) in conjunction with DFT/TDDFT calculations, we studied the dynamics and underlying reaction mechanisms of the formation of extremely labile copper(II) CuCl42- chloro complexes from copper(II) CuCl3- trichloro complexes and chloride ions. These two species, produced via photochemical dissociation of CuCl42- upon 420 nm excitation into the ligand-to-metal-charge-transfer electronic state, are found to recombine into parent complexes with bimolecular rate constants of (9.0 ± 0.1) × 107 and (5.3 ± 0.4) × 108 M-1 s-1 in acetonitrile and dichloromethane, respectively. In dichloromethane, recombination occurs via a simple one-step addition. In acetonitrile, where [CuCl3]- reacts with the solvent to form a [CuCl3CH3CN]- complex in less than 20 ps, recombination takes place via ligand exchange described by the associative interchange mechanism that involves a [CuCl4CH3CN]2- intermediate. In both solvents, the recombination reaction is potential energy controlled.