Reaction of Benzene with Atomic Carbon: Pathways to Fulvenallene and the Fulvenallenyl Radical in Extraterrestrial Atmospheres and the Interstellar Medium

Fulvenallenyl Radical (C7H5·)-Mediated Gas-Phase Synthesis of Bicyclic Aromatic C10H8 Isomers: Can Fulvenallenyl Efficiently React with Closed-Shell Hydrocarbons?

To understand the reactivity of resonantly stabilized radicals, often found in relevant concentrations in gaseous environments, it is important to determine their main reaction pathways. Here, it is investigated whether the fulvenallenyl radical (C7H5·) reacts preferentially with closed-shell molecules or radicals. Electronic structure calculations on the C10H9 potential energy surface accessed by the reactions of C7H5· with methylacetylene (CH3CCH) and allene (H2CCCH2) were combined with RRKM-ME calculations of temperature- and pressure-dependent rate constants using the automated EStokTP software suite and kinetic modeling to assess the reactivity of C7H5· with closed-shell unsaturated hydrocarbons. Experimentally, the reactions were attempted in a chemical microreactor heated to 998 ± 10 K by preparing fulvenallenyl radicals via pyrolysis of trichloromethylbenzene (C7H5Cl3) and seeding the radicals in methylacetylene or allene carrier gas, with product identification by means of photoionization mass spectrometry. The measured photoionization efficiency curve of m/z = 128 was assigned to a linear combination of the reference curves of two C10H8 isomers, azulene (minor) and naphthalene (major), presumably resulting from the C7H5· plus C3H4 reactions. However, the calculations demonstrated that these reactions are too slow, and kinetic modeling of processes in the reactor allowed us to conclude that the observation of naphthalene and azulene is due to the C7H5· plus C3H3· reaction, where propargyl is produced by direct hydrogen atom abstraction by chlorine (Cl) atoms from allene or methylacetylene and Cl stem from the pyrolysis of C7H5Cl3. Modeling results under the copyrolysis conditions of toluene and methylacetylene in high-temperature shock tube experiments confirmed the prevalence of the fulvenallenyl reaction with propargyl over its reactions with C3H4 even when the concentrations of allene and methylacetylene largely exceed that of propargyl. Overall, the reactions of fulvenallenyl with both allene and methylacetylene were found to be noncompetitive in the formation of naphthalene and azulene thus attesting the inefficiency of the fulvenallenyl radical reactions with the prototype closed-shell hydrocarbon species. In the meantime, the new reaction pathways revealed, including H-assisted isomerizations between C10H8 isomers and decomposition reactions of various C10H9 isomers, emerge as relevant and are recommended for inclusion in combustion kinetic models for naphthalene formation.

Gas-phase preparation of azulene (C10H8) and naphthalene (C10H8) via the reaction of the resonantly stabilized fulvenallenyl and propargyl radicals

Synthetic routes to the 10π Hückel aromatic azulene (C10H8) molecule, the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon carrying an adjacent five- and seven-membered ring, have been of fundamental importance due to the role of azulene - a structural isomer of naphthalene - as an essential molecular building block of saddle-shaped carbonaceous nanostructures such as curved nanographenes and nanoribbons. Here, we report on the very first gas phase preparation of azulene by probing the gas-phase reaction between two resonantly stabilized radicals, fulvenallenyl and propargyl , in a molecular beam through isomer-resolved vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry. Augmented by electronic structure calculations, the novel Fulvenallenyl Addition Cyclization Aromatization (FACA) reaction mechanism affords a versatile concept for introducing the azulene moiety into polycyclic aromatic systems thus facilitating an understanding of barrierless molecular mass growth processes of saddle-shaped aromatics and eventually carbonaceous nanoparticles (soot, interstellar grains) in our universe.

Gas-Phase Infrared Spectra of the C7H5 Radical and Its Bimolecular Reaction Products

Resonance-stabilized radicals are considered as possible intermediates in the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in interstellar space. Here, we investigate the fulvenallenyl radical, the most stable C₇H₅ isomer by IR/UV ion dip spectroscopy employing free electron laser radiation in the mid-infrared region between 550 and 1750 cm^-1. The radical is generated by pyrolysis from phthalide. Various jet-cooled reaction products are identified by their mass-selective IR spectra in the fingerprint region, based on a comparison with computed spectra. Interestingly, benzyl is present as a second resonance-stabilized radical. It is connected to fulvenallenyl by a sequence of two H atom losses or additions. Among the identified aromatic hydrocarbons are toluene and styrene, as well as polycyclic molecules, such as indene, naphthalene, fluorene and phenanthrene. Mechanisms for the formation of PAH from C₇H₅ have already been suggested in previous computational work. In particular, the radical/radical reaction of two fulvenallenyl radicals provides an efficient route to phenanthrene in one bimolecular step and might be relevant for PAH formation under astrochemical conditions.

Matrix Infrared Spectra of 1-Ethynyl-1H-Silole Species from Reaction of Silicon Atoms with Benzene

The reaction of silicon atoms with benzene molecule in solid neon are studied by matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy. Aided by carbon-13 and deuterium isotopic shifts as well as quantum-chemical predictions,...

Cyclopentadienyl radical formation from the reaction of excited nitrogen atoms with benzene: a theoretical study

Ab initio CCSD(T)/CBS//ωB97X-D/6-311+G(d,p) calculations of the C6H6N potential energy surface were performed to investigate the reaction mechanism underlying the reaction of atomic nitrogen (2D) with benzene. Thereafter, Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) calculations of reaction rate constants and product branching ratios were performed under single-collision conditions. The results revealed that the N(2D) + C6H6 reaction in the case of statistical behavior is expected to produce hydrogen cyanide plus a cyclopentadienyl radical (91.5-88.9%), acetylene plus a pyrrole radical (5.8-7.5%), 1-cyano-2,4-cyclopentadiene + H (2.3-3.0%) and 1-ethynyl-pyrrole + H (0.4-0.6%), with the most favorable pathways being the initial adduct i1 leading to the formation of a seven-membered cyclic intermediate i12 through an exothermic ring expansion process and a multistep route i12 → i15 → i16 → C5H5 + HCN featuring an intramolecular ring-shrinking process involving a C-C bond fusion elimination channel to yield the bicyclic intermediate i15, followed by hydrogen cyanide elimination, thus forming a cyclopentadienyl radical. The calculated product branching ratios were consistent with the available experimental data; however, some quantitative deviations from the experimental results and the possible reasons are also discussed. The possible effects of the title reaction on the upper atmosphere of Titan, with critical implications for the rapid degradation of nitrogen-bearing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, were compared with the mass growth processes of their polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon counterparts produced through ring expansion.

Boron-Mediated Carbon-Carbon Bond Cleavage and Rearrangement of Benzene Forming the Borepinyl Radical and Borole Derivatives

The reaction of atomic boron with benzene in solid neon has been investigated by matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy with isotopic substitutions as well as quantum chemical calculations. The reaction is initiated by boron atom addition to benzene in forming an η²-(1, 4) π adduct (A). A borepinyl radical (B) formed by C-C bond insertion is also observed on annealing. The η²-(1,4) π adduct photoisomerizes to an unprecedented borole substituted vinyl radical intermediate (C) via ring-opening and rearrangement reactions involving an antiaromatic borole subunit. A previously unconsidered 1-ethynyl-2-dihydro-1H-borole radical (D) is generated as the final product under UV light irradiation. The results presented herein give new insight into the benzene carbon-carbon bond cleavage and rearrangement reactions mediated by a nonmetal and provide a possible route for the construction of heterocyclic borepinyl and borole species via benzene ring opening and rearrangement reactions.

Chemical Kinetics Approves the Occurrence of C (3Pj) Reaction with H2O

Although both atomic carbon and water are omnipresent in human life, there is a debate about the possibility of carbon reaction with water. Some low-temperature spectroscopic investigations have rejected the reaction, whereas some room-temperature experiments and theoretical studies have accepted the possibility of the reaction by reporting rate coefficients ranging from 10⁵ to 10⁹ L mol^-1 s^-1. This study provides new lines of evidence about the reaction through exploration of the reaction mechanism using the CCSD(T) method and solving the corresponding master equation by following two main approaches. According to the results, the rate coefficient of the reaction is significantly influenced by the tunneling and hindered rotation effects, in addition to the selected total angular momentum (J). Furthermore, the total rate coefficient of the reaction increases dramatically (from 10⁷ to 10¹¹ L mol^-1 s^-1) with the rise of temperature from 100 to 4000 K, while the total rate coefficient is insensitive to pressure (0.1-10 atm). Despite some differences between the results of the two approaches, the rate coefficients of both methods are consistent with the previously reported rate coefficients. Also, in agreement with the previous studies, the major products are ²HOC + ²H and ²HCO + ²H. In general, the findings approve the occurrence of the title reaction and indicate that the mentioned conflict is due to the sensitivity of the reaction to the investigated temperature and J level. The sensitivity does not permit low-temperature spectroscopic studies to detect any products and varies the measured and calculated rate coefficients.

Study of Benzene Fragmentation, Isomerization, and Growth Using Microwave Spectroscopy

Using a combination of broadband and cavity Fourier transform microwave spectroscopies, and newly developed analysis and assignment tools, the discharge products of benzene have been extensively studied in the 2-18 GHz frequency range. More than 450 spectral features with intensities greater than 6σ of the noise RMS were identified, of which of roughly four-fifths (82%) constituting 90% of the total spectral intensity were assigned to 38 species previously detected in the radio band, and nine entirely new hydrocarbon molecules were identified. The new species include both branched and chain fragments of benzene, high energy C₆H₆ isomers, and larger molecules such as phenyldiacetylene and isomers of fulvenallene; taken together they account for roughly half of the number of observed transitions and 51% of the spectral line intensity. Transitions from vibrationally excited states of several molecules were also identified in the course of this investigation. A key aspect of the present analysis was implementation of a rapid and efficient workflow to assign spectral features from known molecules and to identify line progressions by pattern recognition techniques.

Untangling the methane chemistry in interstellar and solar system ices toward ionizing radiation: a combined infrared and reflectron time-of-flight analysis

Pure methane (CH₄/CD₄) ices were exposed to three ionizing radiation sources at 5.5 K under ultrahigh vacuum conditions to compare the complex hydrocarbon spectrum produced across several interstellar environments. These irradiation sources consisted of energetic electrons to simulate secondary electrons formed in the track of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), Lyman α (10.2 eV; 121.6 nm) photons simulated the internal VUV field in a dense cloud, and broadband (112.7-169.8 nm; 11.0-7.3 eV) photons which mimic the interstellar ultra-violet field. The in situ chemical evolution of the ices was monitored via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and during heating via mass spectrometry utilizing a quadrupole mass spectrometer with an electron impact ionization source (EI-QMS) and a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer with a photoionization source (PI-ReTOF-MS). The FTIR analysis detected six small hydrocarbon products from the three different irradiation sources: propane [C₃H₈(C₃D₈)], ethane [C₂H₆(C₂D₆)], the ethyl radical [C₂H₅(C₂D₅)], ethylene [C₂H₄(C₂D₄)], acetylene [C₂H₂(C₂D₂)], and the methyl radical [CH₃(CD₃)]. The sensitive PI-ReTOF-MS analysis identified a complex array of products with different products being detected between experiments with general formulae: C_nH_2n+2 (n = 4-8), C_nH_2n (n = 3-9), C_nH_2n-2 (n = 3-9), C_nH_2n-4 (n = 4-9), and C_nH_2n-6 (n = 6-7) from electron irradiation and C_nH_2n+2 (n = 4-8), C_nH_2n (n = 3-10), C_nH_2n-2 (n = 3-11), C_nH_2n-4 (n = 4-11), C_nH_2n-6 (n = 5-11), and C_nH_2n-8 (n = 6-11) from broadband photolysis and Lyman α photolysis. These experiments show that even the simplest hydrocarbon can produce important complex hydrocarbons such as C₃H₄ and C₄H₆ isomers. Distinct isomers from these groups have been shown to be important reactants in the synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like indene (C₉H₈) and naphthalene (C₁₀H₈) under interstellar conditions.

Flash Vacuum Pyrolysis: Techniques and Reactions

Flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) had its beginnings in the 1940s and 1950s, mainly through mass spectrometric detection of pyrolytically formed free radicals. In the 1960s many organic chemists started performing FVP experiments with the purpose of isolating new and interesting compounds and understanding pyrolysis processes. Meanwhile, many different types of apparatus and techniques have been developed, and it is the purpose of this review to present the most important methods as well as a survey of typical reactions and observations that can be achieved with the various techniques. This includes preparative FVP, chemical trapping reactions, matrix isolation, and low temperature spectroscopy of reactive intermediates and unstable molecules, the use of online mass, photoelectron, microwave, and millimeterwave spectroscopies, gas-phase laser pyrolysis, pulsed pyrolysis with supersonic jet expansion, very low pressure pyrolysis for kinetic investigations, solution-spray and falling-solid FVP for involatile compounds, and pyrolysis over solid supports and reagents. Moreover, the combination of FVP with matrix isolation and photochemistry is a powerful tool for investigations of reaction mechanism.

Photodissociation dynamics of fulvenallene and the fulvenallenyl radical at 248 and 193 nm

Photofragment translational spectroscopy was used to study the photodissociation of fulvenallene, C₇H₆, and the fulvenallenyl radical, C₇H₅. Fulvenallene only loses H atoms to form fulvenallenyl. Fulvenallenyl exhibits both C₂H₂-loss and C₃H₃-loss pathways.

Kinetics of the OH Radical Reaction with Fulvenallene from 298 to 450 K

Self-recombination and cross-reactions of large resonant stabilized hydrocarbon radicals such as fulvenallenyl (C7H5) are predicted to form polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in combustion and the interstellar medium. Although fulvenallenyl is likely to be present in these environments, large uncertainties remain about its formation mechanisms. We have investigated the formation of fulvenallenyl by reacting the OH radical with fulvenallene (C7H6) over the 298 to 450 K temperature range and at a pressure of 5 Torr (667 Pa). The reaction rate coefficient is found to be 8.8(±1.7) × 10(-12) cm(3) s(-1) at room temperature with a negative temperature dependence that can be fit from 298 to 450 K to k(T) = 8.8(±1.7) × 10(-12) (T/298 K)(-6.6(±1.1)) exp[-(8.72(±3.03) kJ mol(-1))/(R((1/T) - (1/298 K)))] cm(3) s(-1). The comparison of the experimental data with calculated abstraction rate coefficients suggests that over the experimental temperature range, association of the OH radical to fulvenallene plays a significant role likely leading to a low fulvenallenyl branching fraction.

Gas Phase Detection of Benzocyclopropenyl

The gas phase detection of benzocyclopropenyl is reported. In this aromatic resonance stabilized radical, a large angular strain is present due to a three-membered ring annelated to a benzene. The resonant two-color two-photon ionization technique is used to record the D1((2)A2) ← D0((2)B1) electronic transition of this radical after the in situ synthesis in a discharge source. The spectrum features absorptions up to 3300 cm(-1) above the origin band at 19,305 cm(-1). Benzocyclopropenyl is possibly the major product of the bimolecular reaction of benzene and an atomic carbon at low temperatures.