Infrared spectra of the group 2 metal dihydroxide molecules

Group 2 metal atoms (Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba) react on ultraviolet photoexcitation with O(2), H(2) mixtures in solid argon at 10 K to produce new absorptions in the O-H and O-M-O stretching regions. The effect of detailed isotopic substitution on these two absorptions identifies the M(OH)(2) molecules. The stepwise decrease in the O-H stretching modes in this chemical family demonstrates an increase in ionic character, which parallels the increase in base strength for the analogous solid compounds.     

Infrared spectra and structures for group 4 dihydroxide and tetrahydroxide molecules

Hafnium and zirconium atoms react with H(2)O(2) molecules and with H(2) + O(2) mixtures to form M(OH)(2) and M(OH)(4) molecules, which are trapped in solid argon and identified from isotopic shifts in the infrared spectra. Electronic structure calculations at the MP2 level converge to almost linear M(OH)(2) and tetrahedral M(OH)(4) molecules and predict vibrational frequencies for mixed isotopic molecules of lower symmetry that are in excellent agreement with experimental measurements, thus substantiating the identification of hafnium and zirconium dihydroxide and tetrahydroxide molecules. Titanium atoms react to give the same product molecules, but Ti(OH)(4) has an S(4) structure with bent Ti-O-H bonds, Ti(OH)(2) appears to be nearly linear, and the more stable tetravalent HM(O)OH isomer is more prominent for Ti. The Group 4 tetrahydroxides reported here are the first examples of pure metal tetrahydroxide molecules.     

Infrared spectra and electronic structure calculations for the group 2 metal M(OH)2 dihydroxide molecules

Reactions of laser-ablated Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba atoms with O2 and H2 in excess argon give new absorptions in the O-H and O-M-O stretching regions, which increase together upon UV photolysis and are due to the M(OH)2 molecules (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba). The same product absorptions are observed in the metal atom reactions with H2O2. The M(OH)2 identifications are supported by isotopic substitution and theoretical calculations (B3LYP and MP2). The O-H stretching frequencies of the alkaline earth metal dihydroxide molecules decrease from 3829.8 to 3784.6 to 3760.6 to 3724.2 cm(-1) in the family series in solid argon, while the base strength of the solid compounds increases. Calculations show that Sr(OH)2 and Ba(OH)2 are bent at the metal center, owing to d orbital involvement in the bonding. Although these molecules are predominantly ionic, the O-H stretching frequencies do not reach the ionic limit of gaseous OH- going down the family group because of cation-anion polarization and p(pi) --> d(pi) interactions.     

Infrared spectra and electronic structures of agostic uranium methylidene molecules

Through reactions of laser-ablated uranium atoms with methylene halides CH2XY (XY = F2, FCl, and Cl2), a series of new actinide methylidene molecules CH2UF2, CH2UFCl, and CH2UCl2 are formed as the major products. The identification of these complexes has been accomplished via matrix infrared spectra, isotopic substitution, and relativistic density functional calculations of the vibrational frequencies and infrared intensities. Density functional calculations using the generalized gradient approach (PW91) show that these CH2UXY methylidene complexes prefer highly distorted agostic structures rather than the ethylene-like symmetric structures. The calculated agostic angles ([angle]H-C-U) are around 89 degrees for all the three uranium complexes, and the predicted vibrational modes and isotopic shifts agree well with experimental values. Electronic structure calculations reveal that these U(IV) molecules all have strong C=U double bonds in the triplet ground states with 5f (2) configurations. The calculated bond lengths and bond energies indicate that the C=U double bonds are slightly weaker in the fluoride species than in the chloride species because of the radial contraction of the U (6d) orbitals by the inductive effect of the fluorine substituent. The agostic uranium methylidene complexes are compared with analogous transition metal and thorium complexes, which reveal interesting differences in their chemistries.     

Zinc and cadmium dihydroxide molecules: matrix infrared spectra and theoretical calculations

Laser-ablated zinc and cadmium atoms were mixed uniformly with H2 and O2 in excess argon or neon and with O2 in pure hydrogen or deuterium during deposition at 8 or 4 K. UV irradiation excites metal atoms to insert into O2 producing OMO molecules (M = Zn, Cd), which react further with H2 to give the metal hydroxides M(OH)2 and HMOH. The M(OH)2 molecules were identified through O-H and M-O stretching modes with appropriate HD, D2, (16,18)O2, and (18)O2 isotopic shifts. The HMOH molecules were characterized by O-H, M-H, and M-O stretching modes and an M-O-H bending mode, which were particularly strong in pure H2/D2. Analogous Zn and Cd atom reactions with H2O2 in excess argon produced the same M(OH)2 absorptions. Density functional theory and MP2 calculations reproduce the IR spectra of these molecules. The bonding of Group 12 metal dihydroxides and comparison to Group 2 dihydroxides are discussed. Although the Group 12 dihydroxide O-H stretching frequencies are lower, calculated charges show that the Group 2 dihydroxide molecules are more ionic.     

Infrared spectrum and structure of the gold dihydroxide molecule

Reactions of laser-ablated gold atoms with H2O2 and H2+O2 mixtures give four new infrared absorptions, which match the four most intense vibrational frequencies calculated for Au(OH)2 using density functional theory; the calculations find a C2h structure and substantial covalent bonding character for the Au(OH)2 molecule, which is probably due to the high electron affinity of gold.     

Infrared spectra of metal anthranilates

The infrared spectra of the sodium salts and the Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(Il) chelates of anthranilic acid and 5-methyl-, 5-chloro-, 5-bromo-and 5-iodo-anthranilic acid are discussed. ¹⁵N-Labelling of sodium anthranilate and the complexes of anthranilic acid provides assignments of the ligand vibrations involving the amino group. The metal-ligand stretching frequencies (vM-N and vM-O) are assigned by observing the effects on the spectra caused by ¹⁵N-labelling, metal ion substitution and ligand substitution. The vCu-O bands are split by tetragonal distortion in the Cu(II) complex which involves elongation of the axial Cu~O bonds. The metal ion dependence of vM-N and vM-O parallels the Irving-Williams stability sequence. The ligand substituents shift vM-O in accordance with their inductive effects while vM-N exhibits a substituent dependence which is roughly the opposite of that shown by vM-O.     

Infrared spectra of catalysts and adsorbed molecules

Russian Chemical Bulletin -     

Electronic spectra of metal cluster molecules

The electronic absorption spectra (UV-visible-NIR) of a range of molecular metal cluster compounds, including new spectra of Pt₃₀₉(phen*)₃₆O₂₈ in solution and Au₅₅(PPh₃)₁₂Cl₆ in the solid state, are discussed and compared with the spectra of colloidal particles of the corresponding metals. We consider frontier orbital separations, the development of interband absorptions, the possible appearance of molecular plasma resonances, and charge-transfer in the solid state.     

Infrared spectra and structures of the Th(OH)2 and Th(OH)4 molecules

Thorium atoms react with H2O2, H2 + O2 mixtures, and H2O in excess argon to form the Th(OH)2 and Th(OH)4 molecules as minor and major products, respectively. The vibrational frequencies observed in the matrix infrared spectra are in excellent agreement with MP2 computed values, which confirms the identification of these highly ionic thorium hydroxide molecules. Our MP2 calculations converge to slightly bent and tetrahedral structures, respectively. This investigation reports the first evidence for pure actinide dihydroxide and tetrahydroxide molecules.