Investigations of Silicon−Nitrogen Hydrides from Reaction of Nitrogen Atoms with Silane: Experiments and Calculations

High-temperature rotation-vibration spectrum of iminosilylene (HNSi)

Iminosilylene (HNSi) has been observed in the laboratory and is expected to occur in the envelopes of carbon-rich stars. However, the lack of spectroscopic information for HNSi has hampered its further astrophysical detection. Using robust ab initio methods, we present the first and comprehensive molecular line list for HNSi (X 1Σ+). The new line list contains almost 3.36 billion transitions between 1.57 million levels with rotational excitation up to J = 160. It is suitable for temperatures up to 3000 K and covers the wavenumber range of 0-9000 cm-1 (wavelengths λ > 1.11 μm). This new line list can be helpful for the future spectroscopic characterization and molecular detection of HNSi in the laboratory and interstellar space.

Directed Gas-Phase Formation of Aminosilylene (HSiNH2; 1A'): The Simplest Silicon Analogue of an Aminocarbene, under Single-Collision Conditions

The aminosilylene molecule (HSiNH₂, X¹A')-the simplest representative of an unsaturated nitrogen-silylene-has been formed under single collision conditions via the gas phase elementary reaction involving the silylidyne radical (SiH) and ammonia (NH₃). The reaction is initiated by the barrierless addition of the silylidyne radical to the nonbonding electron pair of nitrogen forming an HSiNH₃ collision complex, which then undergoes unimolecular decomposition to aminosilylene (HSiNH₂) via atomic hydrogen loss from the nitrogen atom. Compared to the isovalent aminomethylene carbene (HCNH₂, X¹A'), by replacing a single carbon atom with silicon, a profound effect on the stability and chemical bonding of the isovalent methanimine (H₂CNH)-aminomethylene (HNCH₂) and aminosilylene (HSiNH₂)-silanimine (H₂SiNH) isomer pairs is shown; i.e., thermodynamical stabilities of the carbene versus silylene are reversed by 220 kJ mol^-1. Hence, the isovalency of the main group XIV element silicon was found to exhibit little similarities with the atomic carbon revealing a remarkable effect not only on the reactivity but also on the thermochemistry and chemical bonding.

Electronic structure and properties of neutral, anionic and cationic silicon-nitrogen nanoclusters

We performed a G3 investigation of the possible stable structures of silicon-nitrogen SinNm clusters where m = 1-4, n = 1-4, m + n = 2-5. We considered the neutral, anionic and cationic molecular species in the singlet, doublet and triplet states, as appropriate. For neutral clusters, our data confirm previous DFT and post Hartree-Fock findings. For charged clusters, our results represent predictions. Several molecular properties related to the experimental data, such as the electronic energy, equilibrium geometry, binding energy (BE), HOMO-LUMO gap (HLG), and spin contamination mathematical left angle bracket S₂ mathematical right angle bracket were computed. We also derived the vertical electron attachment (VEA), the adiabatic electron affinity (AEA), and the vertical ionization energy (VIE), of the neutral clusters. Similar to their carbon-nitrogen counterparts, the lowest energy structures for neutral and cationic silicon-nitrogen clusters are found to be linear or quasilinear. In contrast, anionic silicon-nitrogen clusters tend to form 3D structures as the size of the cluster increases.

Exploring the dynamics of reaction N+SiH(4) with crossed molecular-beam experiments and quantum-chemical calculations

We investigated the reaction N((4)S,(2)D,(2)P)+SiH(4) in crossed molecular beams at a collision energy of 4.7 kcal mol(-1) with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer and selective photoionization. Ion signals were observed at m/z=42-45, associated with two product channels, HSiNH/SiNH(2)+H+H and HSiN/HNSi+H(2)+H. The species producing the signal at m/z=43 is assigned to product HSiN/HNSi and that at m/z=44 to product HSiNH/SiNH(2). The signal observed at m/z=42 is attributed to daughter ions of those two products and that at m/z=45 to (29)Si and (30)Si isotopic variants. We report time-of-flight spectra as a function of laboratory angle and simulations for the two products, from which both kinetic-energy and angular distributions of products in the center-of-mass (c.m.) frame were derived. The dependence of release of kinetic energy on the c.m. scattering angle is weak. The average translational energy released is 7.7 kcal mol(-1) for product channel HSiNH/SiNH(2)+H+H and 30.3 kcal mol(-1) for product channel HSiN/HNSi+H(2)+H. Through consecutive triple fragmentation, the angular distribution is slightly anisotropic for product HSiNH/SiNH(2) but isotropic for product HSiN/HNSi. Assuming equal efficiencies of detection, we estimate the branching ratios of products HSiNH/SiNH(2) and HSiN/HNSi to be roughly 15:85. To facilitate an understanding of the reaction mechanisms, we calculated the potential-energy surface for reaction N((2)D)+SiH(4) with quantum-chemical methods. Reactions N((2)D)+SiH(4)-->SiNH(2)+H+H and N((2)D)+SiH(4)-->HNSi+H(2)+H account satisfactorily for the present experimental results. Isomeric products HSiNH and HSiN are minor in this work.