Stereoisomers of hydroxymethanes: Probing structural and spectroscopic features upon substitution

Methanetriol─Formation of an Impossible Molecule

Orthocarboxylic acids─organic molecules carrying three hydroxyl groups at the same carbon atom─have been distinguished as vital reactive intermediates by the atmospheric science and physical (organic) chemistry communities as transients in the atmospheric aerosol cycle. Predicted short lifetimes and their tendency to dehydrate to a carboxylic acid, free orthocarboxylic acids, signify one of the most elusive classes of organic reactive intermediates, with even the simplest representative methanetriol (CH(OH)3)─historically known as orthoformic acid─not previously been detected experimentally. Here, we report the first synthesis of the previously elusive methanetriol molecule in low-temperature mixed methanol (CH3OH) and molecular oxygen (O2) ices subjected to energetic irradiation. Supported by electronic structure calculations, methanetriol was identified in the gas phase upon sublimation via isomer-selective photoionization reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry combined with isotopic substitution studies and the detection of photoionization fragments. The first synthesis and detection of methanetriol (CH(OH)3) reveals its gas-phase stability as supported by a significant barrier hindering unimolecular decomposition. These findings progress our fundamental understanding of the chemistry and chemical bonding of methanetriol, hydroxyperoxymethane (CH3OOOH), and hydroxyperoxymethanol (CH2(OH)OOH), which are all prototype molecules in the oxidation chemistry of the atmosphere.

A comprehensive benchmark ab initio survey of the stationary points and products of the OH· + CH3OH system

Reactions between methanol and the hydroxyl radical are of significant interest for combustion-, atmospheric-, and astrochemistry. While the two primary product channels (the formation of H₂O with either CH₃O· or ·CH₂OH) have been the subject of numerous studies, the possibility of other products has seen little attention. Here, we present a comprehensive thermochemical survey of the stationary points and plausible products of the reaction, featuring 29 geometries optimized at the UCCSD(T)-F12b/aug-cc-pVTZ level, followed by accurate composite ab initio computations for all stationary points (including ·CH₂OH dissociation and isomerization) and five product channels, with a detailed evaluation of basis set convergence and efficiency. The computations reveal that the formation of methanediol and the hydroxymethoxy radical is thermodynamically favorable and the endothermicity of formaldehyde formation is low enough to be a plausible product channel. We also observe unexpectedly large energy deviations between the partially-spin-adapted ROHF-RCCSD(T) method and ROHF-UCCSD(T) as well as between UHF-UCCSDT(Q) and ROHF-UCCSDT(Q) results.

Theoretical Spectroscopic Study of Two Ketones of Atmospheric Interest: Methyl Glyoxal (CH3COCHO) and Methyl Vinyl Ketone (CH3COCH═CH2)

Two ketones of atmospheric interest, methyl glyoxal and methyl vinyl ketone, are studied using explicitly correlated coupled cluster theory and core-valence correlation-consistent basis sets. The work focuses on the far-infrared region. At the employed level of theory, the rotational constants can be determined to within a few megahertz of the experimental data. Both molecules present two conformers, trans/cis and antiperiplanar (Ap)/synperiplanar (Sp), respectively. trans-Methyl glyoxal and Ap-methyl vinyl ketone are the preferred structures. cis-Methyl glyoxal is a secondary minimum of very low stability, which justifies the unavailability of experimental data in this form. In methyl vinyl ketone, the two conformers are almost isoenergetic, but the interconversion implies a relatively high torsional barrier of 1798 cm-1. A very low methyl torsional barrier was estimated for trans-methyl glyoxal (V3 = 273.6 cm-1). Barriers of 429.6 and 380.7 cm-1 were computed for Ap- and Sp-methyl vinyl ketone. Vibrational second-order perturbation theory was applied to determine the rovibrational parameters. The far-infrared region was explored using a variational procedure of reduced dimensionality. For trans-methyl glyoxal, the ground vibrational state was estimated to split by 0.067 cm-1, and the two low excited energy levels (1 0) and (0 1) were found to lie at 89.588 cm-1/88.683 cm-1 (A2/E) and 124.636 cm-1/123.785 cm-1 (A2/E). For Ap- and Sp-methyl vinyl ketone, the ground vibrational state splittings were estimated to be 0.008 and 0.017 cm-1, respectively.