Mechanistic insight on the reversible binding of NO to Fe
II chelate complexes as potential catalysts for the removalof NO from effluent gas streams has been obtained from the temperature and pressure parameters for the "on"and "off" reactions determined using a combination of flash photolysis and stopped-flow techniques. These parametersare correlated with those for water exchange reactions on the corresponding Fe
II and Fe
III chelate complexes, fromwhich mechanistic conclusions are drawn. Small and positive
![](/images/gifchars/Delta.gif)
BORDER=0 >
V![](/images/entities/thermod.gif)
values are found for NO binding to and releasefrom all the selected complexes, consistent with a dissociative interchange (I
d) mechanism. The only exception inthe series of studied complexes is the binding of NO to [Fe
II(nta)(H
2O)
2]
-. The negative volume of activation observedfor this reaction supports the operation of an I
a ligand substitution mechanism. The apparent mechanistic differencescan be accounted for in terms of the electronic and structural features of the studied complexes. The resultsindicate that the aminocar
boxylate chelates affect the rate and overall equilibrium constants, as well as the natureof the substitution mechanism by which NO coordinates to the selected complexes. There is, however, no simplecorrelation between the rate and activation parameters and the selected donor groups or overall charge on theiron(II) complexes.