A comparative theoretical study of the reactivities of the Al+ and Cu+ ions toward methylamine and dimethylamine

A very recent laser ablation‐molecular beam experiment shows that an Al⁺ ion can react with a single methylamine (MA, CH₃NH₂) or dimethylamine (DMA, (CH₃)₂NH) molecule to form a 1:1 ion–molecule complex Al⁺CH₃NH₂] or Al⁺(CH₃)₂NH)], whereas a dehydrogenated complex ion Cu⁺CH₃N] or Cu⁺C₂H₅N] is detected, respectively, in the similar reaction for a Cu⁺ ion. Here, we show a comparative density functional theory study for the reactivities of the Al⁺ and Cu⁺ ions toward MA and DMA to reveal the intrinsic mechanism. It is found that the interactions of the Al⁺ ion with MA and DMA are mostly electrostatic, leading to the direct ion–molecule complexes, Al⁺? NH₂CH₃ and Al⁺? NH( CH₃)₂, in contrast to the non‐negligible covalent character in the corresponding Cu⁺‐containing complexes, Cu⁺? NH₂CH₃ and Cu⁺? NH( CH₃)₂. The general dehydrogenation mechanism for MA and DMA promoted by the Cu⁺ ion has been shown, and the preponderant structures contributing to the mass spectra of the product ions Cu⁺CH₃N] and Cu⁺C₂H₅N] are rationalized as Cu⁺? NHCH₂ and Cu⁺? N( CH₂)( CH₃). The presumed dehydrogenation reactions are also discussed for the Al⁺‐containing systems. However, the involved barriers are found to be too high to be overcome at low energy conditions. These results have rationalized all the experimental observations well. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010