Noncovalent Metal-Metal Interactions: The Crucial Role of London Dispersion in a Bimetallic Indenyl System

The nature of the heterodox metal-metal bond in bimetallic indenyl systems is revealed by a new high-level electronic structure analysis procedure based on perturbation theory within a Localized molecular orbital basis. Surprisingly strong metal-metal interactions are found, and their origin in London dispersion effects has been uncovered. The importance of intramolecular van der Waals interactions, even for quite small organometallic systems, is highlighted.