Hydration dynamics gives the distinctive brown color in the "brown ring" nitrate test

The brown ring test is one of the most popular and visually appealing reagent tests, commonly known to chemistry undergrads and familiar even to school students. The exact composition, mechanism and structure of the complex has been investigated for nearly a century. Recent studies have elucidated its UV-vis, EPR and Mossbauer spectra, mechanistic details and kinetics, followed by crystallization and structure determination in solid state. Nonetheless these studies were unable to address the aspects of solution structure and dynamics of the brown ring complex. We have conducted ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of the classic brown ring complex in aqueous solution. In the process from the simulation trajectory, we have identified that the classically established pseudo-octahedral [Fe(H2O)5(NO)]2+ complex is in chemical equilibrium with the square-pyramidal [Fe(H2O)4(NO)]2+ complex through the exchange of one of the coordinated H2O molecules. The dynamics in aqueous solution between the penta-aqua and tetra-aqua complexes in the brown ring system has to our knowledge never been suggested earlier. Interestingly we find, using ab initio multi-reference quantum chemical methods i.e. CASSCF/NEVPT2 and CASPT2 calculations, that the mixture of these two complexes is what gives the distinctive brown coloration to the brown ring test. We show that its UV-vis spectrum can be theoretically reproduced only by accounting these two species, and not solely the classically established [Fe(H2O)5(NO)]2+ complex. The energetics of the penta-aqua and tetra-aqua complexes is also investigated at the level of multi-reference quantum chemical methods.