Generation and characterization of ionic and neutral silicon dihydroxide Si(OH)2+/0 and silanoic acid HSi(O)OH+/0 in the gas phase by tandem mass spectrometry and computational chemistry

Exotic SiO(2)H(2) Isomers: Theory and Experiment Working in Harmony

Replacing carbon with silicon can result in dramatic and unanticipated changes in isomeric stability, as the well-studied CO2H2 and the essentially unknown SiO2H2 systems illustrate. Guided by coupled-cluster calculations, three SiO2H2 isomers have been detected and spectroscopically characterized in a molecular beam discharge source using rotational spectroscopy. The cis,trans conformer of dihydroxysilylene HOSiOH, the ground-state isomer, and the high-energy, metastable dioxasilirane c-H2SiO2 are abundantly produced in a dilute SiH4/O2 electrical discharge, enabling precise structural determinations of both by a combination of isotopic measurements and calculated vibrational corrections. The isotopic studies also provide insight into their formation route, suggesting that c-H2SiO2 is formed promptly in the expansion but that cis,trans-HOSiOH is likely formed by secondary reactions following formation of the most stable dissociation pair, SiO + H2O. Although less abundant, the rotational spectrum of trans-silanoic acid, the silicon analogue of formic acid, HSi(O)OH, has also been observed.

Mass spectrometry in India

This review emphasizes the mass spectrometry research being performed at academic and established research institutions in India. It consists of three main parts covering the work done in organic, atomic and biological mass spectrometry. The review reveals that the use of mass spectrometry techniques started in the middle of the 20th century and was applied to research in the fields of organic, nuclear, geographical and atomic chemistry. Later, with the advent of soft and atmospheric ionization techniques it has been applied to pharmaceutical and biological research. In due course, several research centers with advanced mass spectrometry facilities have been established for specific areas of research such as gas-phase ion chemistry, ion-molecule reactions, proscribed chemicals, pesticide residues, pharmacokinetics, protein/peptide chemistry, nuclear chemistry, geochronological studies, archeology, petroleum industry, proteomics, lipidomics and metabolomics. Day-by-day the mass spectrometry centers/facilities in India have attracted young students for their doctoral research and other advanced research applications.