Trimethylamine/Sulfuric Acid/Water Clusters: A Matrix Isolation Infrared Study

The Interplay Between Hydrogen Bonding and Coulombic Forces in Determining the Structure of Sulfuric Acid-Amine Clusters

Acid-base cluster chemistry drives atmospheric new particle formation (NPF), but the details of the growth mechanisms are difficult to experimentally probe. Clusters of ammonia, alkylamines, and sulfuric acid, species fundamental to NPF, are probed by infrared spectroscopy. These spectra show that substitution of amines for ammonia, which is linked to accelerated growth, induces profound structural rearrangement in clusters with initial compositions (NH₄⁺) _n+1(HSO₄^-) _n (1 ≤ n ≤ 3). This rearrangement is driven by the loss of N-H hydrogen bond donors, yielding direct bisulfate-bisulfate hydrogen bonds, and its onset with respect to cluster composition indicates that more substituted amines induce rearrangement at smaller sizes. A simple model counting hydrogen bond donors and acceptors explains these observations. The presence of direct hydrogen bonds between formal anions shows that hydrogen bonding can compete with Coulombic forces in determining cluster structure. These results suggest that NPF mechanisms may be highly dependent on amine identity.

Hydrogen bond docking preference in furans: OH⋯π vs. OH⋯O

The docking sites of hydrogen bonds in complexes formed between 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), furan (Fu), and 2-methyl furan (MF) have been investigated. Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, gas phase and matrix isolation FTIR spectroscopies, the strengths of OH⋯O and OH⋯π hydrogen bonds in the complexes were compared to find the docking preference. Calculations suggest that the hydrogen bond donor, TFE, is more likely to dock onto the oxygen atom of the aromatic furans ring, and consequently, the OH⋯O type hydrogen bond is relatively stronger than the OH⋯π type. The FTIR spectrum in the OH-stretching fundamental range obtained at room temperatures has been compared with that obtained at extremely low temperatures in the matrix. The fundamental and the red shifts of OH-stretching vibrations were observed in both FTIR spectra, confirming the formation of hydrogen bonded complexes. By assessing the ability of furan and MF to participate in the formation of OH⋯O hydrogen bond, the effect of ring methylation has been highlighted. From the calculated geometric and thermodynamic parameters as well as the frequency shift of the OH-stretching vibrations in complexes, TFE-MF is found to be more stable than TFE-Fu, which suggests that the strength of the OH⋯O hydrogen bond in TFE-MF originates from the high activity of the furan molecule caused by the methylation of the aromatic ring. The present study furthers the knowledge of docking preference in heteroaromatic molecules and is helpful to understand the nature of intermolecular interactions between hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, including both electron-deficient atoms and π cloud.

Interaction of oxalic acid with methylamine and its atmospheric implications

Oxalic acid, which is one of the most common dicarboxylic acids, is expected to be an important component of atmospheric aerosols. However, the contribution of oxalic acid to the generation of new particles is still poorly understood. In this study, the structural characteristics and thermodynamics of (C2H2O4)(CH3NH2) n (n = 1-4) were investigated at the PW91PW91/6-311++G(3df,3pd) level of theory. We found that clusters formed by oxalic acid and methylamine are relatively stable, and the more the atoms participating in the formation of a ring-like structure, the more stable is the cluster. In addition, via the analysis of atmospheric relevance, it can be revealed that clusters of (C2H2O4)(CH3NH2) n (n = 1-4) have a noteworthy concentration in the atmosphere, which indicates that these clusters could be participating in new particle formation. Moreover, by comparison with (H2C2O4)(NH3) n (n = 1-6) species, it can be seen that oxalic acid is more readily bound to methylamine than to ammonia, which promotes nucleation or new particle formation. Finally, the Rayleigh scattering properties of clusters of (C2H2O4)(CH3NH2) n (n = 1-4) were investigated for the first time to determine their atmospheric implications.

Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy of cold cationic trimethylamine complexes

Infrared spectroscopic studies reveal the general trends in the stepwise growth motif of trimethylamine (TMA)_n⁺ complexes.

Matrix isolation FTIR study of hydrogen-bonded complexes of methanol with heterocyclic organic compounds

Hydrogen bonded complexes of heterocyclic compounds with methanol were studied using matrix isolation FTIR spectroscopy and theoretical calculations.

Competition Between H2SO4(-)(CH3)3N and H2SO4-H2O Interactions: Theoretical Studies on the Clusters [(CH3)3N]·(H2SO4)·(H2O)(3-7)

The role of the nucleation of sulfuric acid with amines in aerosol formation and its implications for environment is one of the fundamental unsettled questions in atmospheric chemistry. We have investigated the cluster of [(CH3)3N]·(H2SO4)·(H2O)n (n = 3–7) by molecular dynamics to obtain configurational sampling combination with CAM-B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level to locate the global and many local minima for each cluster size. According to the binding energies at the method of MP2/6-311++G(d,p), the total binding energies decrease with the increasing of the water molecules. For each global minimum, the average binding energies decrease from n = 3 to 4, then increase slowly. The protons of H2SO4 are preferred to transfer to the (CH3)3N to form ion-pair HSO4(–) and (CH3)3NH(+), and the (CH3)3NH(+) ions are coordinated at the first hydrated shell of HSO4(–) when n is between 3 and 5 and coordinated at the second or third hydrated shell when n is larger than 5.

Interaction of gas phase oxalic acid with ammonia and its atmospheric implications

The temperature effects could contribute to the variation of the relative populations of the isomers, thus the temperature dependence of the thermodynamic properties is an important parameter to understand the roles of the specific nucleation mechanisms at various atmospheric temperatures.

An experimental and theoretical study of the gas phase kinetics of atomic chlorine reactions with CH3NH2, (CH3)2NH, and (CH3)3N

The first kinetic data for the gas phase reactions of amines with chlorine atoms.