Time and time again textbooks and websites state how wonderful it is that the deviations of Hydration Enthalpies from a linear relationship can be accounted for by the CFSE parameter for the particular complex.
My question is what is the mechanistic explanation in terms of water and the metal ion interacting ? Why does CFSE lead to much more negative hydration enthalpies ?
EDIT : A simplie overview of what I'm talking about : http://sst-web.tees.ac.uk/external/u0000892/Web%20thing/CoordChem/CFSE5.htm