Axial motion of water–hydrogen halide and water–halogen complexes in argon matrices

Probing the Structure of the 1:1 Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes of Metallocenes with HCl

Matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy combined with density functional calculations has been used to form, isolate, and characterize the 1:1 hydrogen-bonded complexes of HCl with ferrocene and ruthenocene. Two unique structures were calculated for each complex, analogous to the two binding sites proposed for the attachment of proton to these metallocenes. The spectra, combined with calculated shifts of the H-Cl stretching mode, support the formation of a complex with the HCl hydrogen bonding to one of the cyclopentadienyl rings, exo to the plane of the ring. Evidence also was obtained for a second structure with the hydrogen of the HCl subunit directed toward the Fe or Ru center between the two cyclopentadienyl rings. This structure is similar to the proposed metal-bound proton structure based on earlier mass spectrometric and computational studies. Importantly, these results were supported by parallel experiments with DCl and the two metallocenes.

Femtochemistry of bimolecular reactions from weakly bound complexes: computational study of the H + H'OD → H'OH + D or HOD + H' exchange reactions

A full-dimensional wavepacket propagation describing the bimolecular exchange reactions H + H'OD → H'OH + D or HOD + H' initiated by photolysis of HCl in the hydrogen-bound complex (HCl)⋯(HOD) is reported. The dynamics of this reaction is carried out with the MCTDH method on an ab initio potential energy surface (PES) of H₃O and the initial state is derived from the ground state wavefunction of the complex obtained by relaxation on its own electronic ground state ab initio PES. The description of the system makes use of polyspherical coordinates parametrizing a set of Radau and Jacobi vectors. The calculated energy- and time-resolved reaction probabilities show, owing to the large collision energies at play stemming from the (almost full) photolysis of HCl, that the repulsion between oxygen in the H'OD molecule and the incoming hydrogen atom is the main feature of the collision and leads to non-reactive scattering. No abstraction reaction products are observed. However, both exchange processes are still observable, with a preference in O-H' bond dissociation over that of O-D. The selectivity is reversed upon vibrational pre-excitation of the O-D stretching mode in the H'OD molecule. It is shown that, after the collision, the hydrogen atom of HCl does most likely not encounter the almost stationary chlorine atom again but we also consider the limit case where the H atom is forced to collide multiple times against H'OD as a result of being pushed back by the Cl atom.

Solvation dynamics through Raman spectroscopy: hydration of Br2 and Br3(-), and solvation of Br2 in liquid bromine

Raman spectroscopy of bromine in the liquid phase and in water illustrates uncommon principles and yields insights regarding hydration. In liquid Br(2), resonant excitation over the B((3)Π(0u)(+)) ← X((1)Σ(g)(+)) valence transition at 532 nm produces a weak resonant Raman (RR) progression accompanied by a five-fold stronger non-resonant (NR) scattering. The latter is assigned to pre-resonance with the C-state, which in turn must be strongly mixed with inter-molecular charge transfer states. Despite the electronic resonance, RR of Br(2) in water is quenched. At 532 nm, the homogeneously broadened fundamental is observed, as in the NR case at 785 nm. The implications of the quenching of RR scattering are analyzed in a simple, semi-quantitative model, to conclude that the inertial evolution of the Raman packet in aqueous Br(2) occurs along multiple equivalent water-Br(2) coordinates. In distinct contrast with hydrophilic hydration in small clusters and hydrophobic hydration in clathrates, it is concluded that the hydration shell of bromine in water consists of dynamically equivalent fluxional water molecules. At 405 nm, the RR progression of Br(3)(-) is observed, accompanied by difference transitions between the breathing of the hydration shell and the symmetric stretch of the ion. The RR scattering process in this case can be regarded as the coherent photo-induced electron transfer to the solvent and its radiative back-transfer.

An ab initio calculation of the valence excitation spectrum of H2O...Cl2: comparison to condensed phase spectra

Valence electronic excitation spectra are calculated for the H(2)O...Cl(2) dimer using state-of-the art ab initio potentials for both the ground and the valence excited states, a basis set calculation of the ground state nuclear wave function, and a wave packet analysis to simulate the dynamics on the excited state surface. The peak of the H(2)O...Cl(2) dimer spectrum is blue-shifted by 1250 cm(-1) from that of the free Cl(2) molecule. This is less than the value previously estimated from vertical excitation energies but still significantly more than the blue shift in aqueous solution and clathrate-hydrate solid. Seventy percent of the blue shift is attributed to ground state stabilization, the rest to excited state repulsion. Spin-orbit effects are found to be small for this dimer. Homogeneous broadening is found to be slightly smaller for the dimer than for the free Cl(2). The reflection principle and spectator model approximations were tested and found to be quite satisfactory. This is promising for an eventual simulation of the condensed phase spectra.

Aqueous Microsolvation of Mercury Halide Species†

The effects of aqueous solvation on the thermochemistry of reactions between mercury and small halogen molecules has been investigated by the microsolvation approach using ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The structures, vibrational frequencies, and binding energies of 1, 2, and 3 water molecules with mercury-halide (HgBr2, HgBrCl, HgCl2, HgBr, and HgCl) and related mercury and halogen species (Br2, BrCl, Cl2, Cl, Hg, and Br) have been computed with second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) and the B3LYP density functional method. Accurate incremental water binding energies have been obtained at the complete basis set (CBS) limit using sequences of correlation consistent basis sets, including higher order correlation effects estimated from coupled cluster calculations. The resulting energetics were used to calculate the influence of water molecules on the thermochemistry of a number of reactions between mercury and small halogen-containing molecules. In general, the presence of water favors the formation of oxidized mercury halide species.

Chlorine Interactions with Water Ice Studied by Molecular Beam Techniques

The kinetics of chlorine interactions with ice at temperatures between 103 and 165 K have been studied using molecular beam techniques. The Cl(2) trapping probability is found to be unity at thermal incident energies, and trapping is followed by rapid desorption. The residence time on the surface is less than 25 microg at temperatures above 135 K and approaches 1 s around 100 K. Rate constants for desorption are determined for temperatures below 135 K. The desorption kinetics follow the Arrhenius equation, and activation energies of 0.24 +/- 0.03 and 0.31 +/- 0.01 eV, with corresponding preexponential factors of 10(12.08+/-1.19) and 10(16.52+/-0.38) s(-1), are determined. At least two different Cl(2) binding sites are concluded to exist on the ice surface. The observed activation energies are likely to be the Cl(2)-ice binding energies for these states, and the Cl(2)-surface interactions are concluded to be stronger than earlier theoretical estimates. The surface coverage of Cl(2) on ice under stratospheric conditions is estimated to be negligible, in agreement with earlier work.

The interaction of water and dibromine in the gas phase: an investigation of the complex H(2)O...Br(2) by rotational spectroscopy and ab initio calculations

The ground-state rotational spectra of eight isotopomers of a complex formed by water and dibromine in the gas phase were observed by pulsed-jet, Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. The spectroscopic constants B(0), C(0), delta(J), delta(JK), chi(aa)(Br(x)) (x=i for inner, o for outer), [chi(bb)(Br(x))-chi(cc)(Br(x))] and M(bb)(Br(x)) were determined for H(2)O...(79)Br(79)Br, H(2)O...(81)Br(79)Br, H(2)O...(79)Br(81)Br, H(2)O...(81)Br(81)Br, D(2)O...(79)Br(81)Br and D(2)O...(81)Br(81)Br. For the isotopomers HDO...(79)Br(81)Br and HDO...(81)Br(81)Br, only (B(0) + C(0))/2, delta(J), the chi(aa)(Br(x)) and M(bb)(Br(x)) were determinable. The spectroscopic constants were interpreted on the basis of several models of the complex to give information about its geometry, binding strength and the extent of electronic rearrangement on complex formation. The molecule H(2)O...Br(2) has C(s) symmetry with a pyramidal configuration at O. The zero-point effective quantities r(O...Br(i))=2.8506(1) A and phi(0)=46.8(1), where phi is the angle between the C(2) axis of H(2)O and the O...Br-Br internuclear axis, were obtained under the assumption of monomer geometries unchanged by complexation. Ab initio calculations, carried out at the aug-cc-pVDZ/MP2 level of theory, gave the equilibrium values r(e)(O...Br(i))=2.7908 A and phi(e)=45.7 degrees and confirmed the collinearity of the O...Br-Br nuclei. The potential energy function V(phi), also determined ab initio, showed that the wavenumber required for inversion of the configuration at O in the zero-point state is only 9 cm(-1). By interpreting the Br nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, the fractions delta(O-->Br(i))=0.004(5) and delta (Br(i)-->Br(o))=0.050(2) of an electron were determined to be transferred from O to Br(i) and Br(i) to Br(o), respectively, when the complex is formed. The complex is relatively weak, as indicated by the small value k(sigma)=9.8(2) N m(-1) of the intermolecular stretching force constant obtained from delta(J). A comparison of the properties, similarly determined, of H(2)O...F(2), H(2)O...Cl(2), H(2)O...Br(2), H(2)O...BrCl, H(2)O...ClF and H(2)O...ICl is presented.