Solvation effects on kinetics and charge transfer spectroscopy of transition metal compounds.

The work in this thesis is concerned with three different aspects of the solution chemistry of several inorganic compounds. These aspects are kinetics, solvatochromism and solubility, each being directly linked to the solvent sensitivity of the compounds used. The kinetic studies mainly involve investigations of kinetic trends for systems where the reaction mechanism is known, while constraints have been applied to the structure of the solvent medium. Comparisons between predicted and observed reactivity trends are thus discussed in terms of the solvation changes at the various reactant and transition state species. A correlation between these observed trends and those predicted semi-quantitatively by thermodynamic calculations which are based on various data pertaining to the systems, (e.g. solubility studies) have also been made where possible. The solvatochromic study extends previous research in this field and attempts to assimilate this available data into a single explanation of this phenomenon. The solubility studies were undertaken both to augment some of the kinetic work and also to try and establish whether a common link existed between kinetic and solvatochromic properties of similar compounds.