Beryllocene, (C5H5)2Be. The He(I) photoelectron spectrum and ab initio molecular orbital calculations

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations with a double-ζ basis have been carrried out on five models of beryllocene, Cp₂Be, with fixed geometries. The lowest energies are obtained for the π-Cp, σ-Cp and D_5d models.

The He(I) photoelectron spectrum of Cp₂Be was recorded and the ionization potentials of the first bands were compared with the orbital energies obtained from the molecular orbital calculations. A satisfactory fit between experiment and calculations was obtained for a slip sandwich model of C_s symmetry. A model of C_5v symmetry is only compatible with the PE spectrum if the Jahn—Teller splitting of the lowest ²E₁ state of the molecular ion is exceptionally large, 1.0 eV.