The vibrational spectrum and rotational constants of difluoroethyne FC 3/4 CF. Matrix and high resolution infrared studies andabinitiocalculations

Heterobimetallic μ2-Halocarbyne complexes

The halocarbyne complexes [M(≡CX)(CO)2(Tp*)] (M = Mo, W; X = Cl, Br; Tp* = hydrotris(dimethylpyrazolyl)borate) react with [AuCl(SMe2)], [Pt(-H2C=CH2)(PPh3)2] or [Pt(nbe)3] (nbe = norbornene) to furnish rare examples of μ2-halocarbyne...

Identification of the strongest bonds in chemistry

Increasing the effective electronegativity of two atoms forming a triple bond can increase the strength of the latter. The strongest bonds found in chemistry involve protonated species of hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and dinitrogen. CCSD(T)/CBS (complete basis set) and G4 calculations reveal that bond dissociation energies are misleading strength descriptors. The strength of the bond is assessed via the local stretching force constants, which suggest relative bond strength orders (RBSO) between 2.9 and 3.4 for heavy atom bonding (relative to the CO bond strength in methanol (RBSO = 1) and formaldehyde (RBSO = 2)) in [HCNH](+)((1)Σ(+)), [HCO](+)((1)Σ(+)), [HNN](+)((1)Σ(+)), and [HNNH](2+)((1)Σg(+)). The increase in strength is caused by protonation, which increases the electronegativity of the heavy atom and thereby decreases the energy of the bonding AB orbitals (A, B: C, N, O). A similar effect can be achieved by ionization of a nonbonding or antibonding electron in CO or NO. The strongest bond with a RBSO value of 3.38 is found for [HNNH](2+) using scaled CCSD(T)/CBS frequencies determined for CCSD(T)/CBS geometries. Less strong is the NN bond in [FNNH](2+) and [FNNF](2+).

Partially fluorinated butatrienes: a coupled cluster study

The geometries of 19 different partially fluorinated butatrienes and their related butenyne isomers have been calculated at the Møller-Plesset second order perturbation theory level with Dunning's valence triple-zeta basis set. Final energies were determined at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVQZ level of theory. Increasing fluorine substitution has only a limited effect on the bond lengths but a substantial effect on the angles. The CCC bond angles of 4 of the 5 partially fluorinated butatrienes show a deviation of more than 2 degrees from collinearity, therefore representing angle-strained butatrienes. Increasing degree of fluorination has a substantial effect on the isomerization energies. The energy difference between the least stable enyne nonfluorinated at the acetylenic center and the most stable enyne fluorinated at the acetylenic center decreases from 66.8 kJ/mol, in case of the monofluorinated system, to 29.7 kJ/mol in the triple fluorinated system. The acetylenic F substitution is crucial in raising the energies of fluorinated but-1-en-3-yne relative to their butatriene isomers. Within the triple fluorinated system and unprecedented for all discussed molecules, 1,1,4-trifluoro-but-1-en-3-yne represents the only molecule fluorinated at the acetylenic center that is more stable than its triene isomer.

The diversity of difluoroacetylene coordination modes obtained by coupling fluorocarbyne ligands on binuclear manganese carbonyl sites

Recent work has shown that the fluorocarbyne ligand CF, isoelectronic with the NO ligand, can be generated by the defluorination of CF(3) metal complexes, as illustrated by the 2006 synthesis by Hughes et al. of [C(5)H(5)Mo(CF)(CO)(2)] in good yield by the defluorination of [C(5)H(5)Mo(CF(3))(CO)(3)]. The fluorocarbyne ligand has now been investigated as a ligand in the manganese carbonyl complexes [Mn(CF)(CO)(n)] (n = 3, 4) and [Mn(2)(CF)(2)(CO)(n)] (n = 4-7) by using density functional theory. In mononuclear complexes, such as [Mn(CF)(CO)(4)], the CF ligand behaves very much like the NO ligand in terms of pi-acceptor strength. However, in the binuclear complexes the two CF ligands couple in many of the low-energy structures to form a bridging C(2)F(2) ligand derived, at least formally, from difluoroacetylene, FC[triple bond]CF. The geometries of such [Mn(2)(C(2)F(2))(CO)(n)] complexes suggest several different bonding modes of the bridging C(2)F(2) unit. These include bonding through the orthogonal pi bonds of FC[triple bond]CF, similar to the well-known [R(2)C(2)Co(2)(CO)(6)] complexes, or bonding of the C(2)F(2) unit as a symmetrical or unsymmetrical biscarbene. This research suggests that fluorocarbyne metal chemistry can serve as a means for obtaining a variety of difluoroacetylene metal complexes, thereby avoiding the need for synthesizing and handling the very unstable difluoroacetylene.

Resolving an apparent discrepancy between theory and experiment: spin-spin coupling constants for FCCF

Ab initio equation of motion coupled cluster singles and doubles (EOM-CCSD) and second-order polarization propagator approximation (SOPPA) calculations have been performed to evaluate spin-spin coupling constants for FCCF (difluoroethyne). The computed EOM-CCSD value of (3)J(F-F) obtained at the experimental geometry of this molecule supports the previously reported experimental value of 2.1 Hz, thereby resolving an apparent discrepancy between theory and experiment. This coupling constant exhibits a strong dependence on the C-C and C-F distances, and its small positive value results from a sensitive balance of paramagnetic spin-orbit (PSO) and spin-dipole (SD) terms. The three other unique FCCF coupling constants (1)J(C-C), (1)J(C-F), and (2)J(C-F) have also been reported and compared with experimental data. While (1)J(C-F) is in agreement with experiment, the computed value of (2)J(C-F) is larger than our estimate of the experimental coupling constant.

Structure and Stability of the Organo-Noble Gas Molecules XNgCCX and XNgCCNgX (Ng = Kr, Ar; X = F, Cl)

Density functional theory (B3LYP) and ab initio theory [second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) and coupled-cluster theory including single, double, and quasiperturbative triple excitations (CCSD(T))] have been used in combination with the standard and augmented correlation consistent basis sets (cc-pVnZ and aug-cc-pVnZ, where n = D, T, and Q) to investigate potential new noble gas compounds. Two classes of molecules were studied: XNgCCNgX and XNgCCX, where Ng = Kr and Ar and X = F and Cl. These molecules were characterized by finding the ground-state structures and calculating the relative energies, charge distributions, and vibrational frequencies. In addition, transition-state structures were also determined and decomposition pathways were identified through intrinsic reaction coordinate calculations.

High Resolution Rovibrational Spectroscopy of Chiral and Aromatic Compounds

The analysis of selected rovibrationally resolved infrared spectra of some relatively heavy and large polyatomic molecules is reviewed. A short historical summary of the development of high resolution interferometric Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers is given and the possibilities of the currently most highly resolving FTIR spectrometer, which is commercially available in the Bruker IFS 125 series, are discussed. The computational tools necessary to analyse FTIR spectra are described briefly. As examples of rovibrational analysis the spectra of three selected molecules CHCl(2)F, CDBrClF, and pyridine (C(5)H(5)N) are discussed. The spectrum of CHCl(2)F, a fluorochlorohydrocarbon, is of interest for a better understanding of the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere. CDBrClF is a chiral molecule and therefore the analysis of its rovibrational spectra provides the basis for carrying out further experiments towards the detection of molecular parity violation. The analysis of the pyridine FTIR spectra illustrates the potential of the new generation of FTIR spectrometers in the study of spectra and rovibrational dynamics of aromatic systems and molecules of potential biological interest.

The High-Resolution FTIR Far-Infrared Spectrum of Formamide

The far-infrared spectrum of formamide (HCONH2) has been recorded at high resolution and over 9000 vibration-rotation lines assigned. Molecular parameters from the rovibrational analyses of the unperturbed 12(1)0 out-of-plane vibration band have been obtained for the ground state and the excited state. An analysis of the complicated resonance system between the 9(1)0, 11(1)0, and 12(2)0 bands has also been carried out. The mid-infrared spectrum of formamide has been recorded at low resolution and assignments for the fundamental, combination, and overtone bands in this region are given. The Large Amplitude Motion (LAM) of the out-of-plane mode has been reanalyzed using the new parameter set. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.