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The International Collaborative Writing Groups (ICWG) initiative creates a space for ongoing collaboration amongst scholars of teaching and learning who co-author a manuscript on a topic of shared interest. The second ICWG, linked to the 2015 International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference in Melbourne, Australia, involved 59 scholars from 11 countries. In this piece, we describe the aims, process, and outcomes for the ICWG, comparing it with the first ICWG in 2012. While international collaboration around a topic of shared interest is generally viewed positively, the realities of collaborating online with limited face-to-face interactions to complete a manuscript can be challenging. We argue, despite such challenges, that ongoing collaboration amongst scholars is vital to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) movement. Drawing on our experience of leading the overall ICWG initiative and our research into participants’ experiences, we suggest there are individual dispositions toward collaboration that enrich and enable successful participation in ICWG experiences. We end by highlighting the final products arising from almost two year of collaborative thinking and writing from six groups.

The complex, IrH₂(PMe₃)₃Cl (1), was previously found to be, not only unexpectedly water-soluble but also an effective homogeneous catatyst for the hydrogenation of unsaturates in water. The results of extensive ³¹P NMR studies on the aqueous system of (1) indicate that (1) is in equilibrium with the iridium(III) dihydrido “aquo” complex, [IrH₂(PMe₃)₃(H₂O)]⁺, and not the μ-chloro bridged complex, { [IrH₂(PMe₃)₃]₂Cl}⁺ (2), as previously reported. The calculated Keq value for the aqueous equilibrium is (0.0037 ± 0.0003) M. Thermodynamic data (ΔH = 30.8 kJ/mol, ΔS = 56.0 J/(Kmol), and ΔG = 14.1 kJ/mol) obtained from variable temperature ³¹P NMR studies are consistent with the proposed equilibrium system. The complexes IrH₂(PMe₃)₃X (X = O₂CPh (3), I (4), and Br (6) were synthesized and examined. The complexes IrH₂(PMe₃)₃X (X = H₂O and F) could not be isolated. (3) was determined to dissociate completely in water to form the iridium(III) dihydrido “‘aquo” complex, [IrH₂(PMe₃)₃(H₂O)]⁺, seemingly explaining the greater catalytic activity of (3). Solubility of the halo complexes decreased from moderately soluble (1), to slightly soluble (6), to very slightly soluble (4). The solubilities of (4) and (6) were too low to allow quantification of their equilibria. Finally it was observed that linear relationships exist between the electronegativity of the ligand, X, and the ¹H and ³¹P NMR chemical shifts of the hydrides and the phosphines for the complexes, IrH₂(PMe₃)₃X. These relationships are consistent with the findings of Birnbaum. Ph. D.