Formation of covalently bonded polycyclic hydrocarbon ions by intracluster polymerization of ionized ethynylbenzene clusters.

Here we report a detailed study aimed at elucidating the mechanism of intracluster ionic polymerization following the electron impact ionization of van der Waals clusters of ethynylbenzene (C8H6)n generated by a supersonic beam expansion. The structures of the C16H12, C24H18, C32H24, C40H30, and C48H36 radical cations resulting from the intracluster ion-molecule addition reactions have been investigated using a combination of mass-selected ion dissociation and ion mobility measurements coupled with theoretical calculations. Noncovalent structures can be totally excluded primarily because the measured fragmentations cannot result from noncovalent structures, and partially because of the large difference between the measured collision cross sections and the calculated values corresponding to noncovalent ion-neutral complexes. All the mass-selected cluster ions show characteristic fragmentations of covalently bonded molecular ions by the loss of stable neutral fragments such as CH3, C2H, C6H5, and C7H7. The population of the C16H12 dimer ions is dominated by structural isomers of the type (C6H5)-C≡C-CH(•+)CH-(C6H5), which can grow by the sequential addition of ethynylbenzene molecules, in addition to some contributions from cyclic isomers such as the 1,3- or 1,4-diphenyl cyclobutadiene ions. Similarly, two major covalent isomers have been identified for the C24H18 trimer ions: one that has a blocked cyclic structure assigned to 1,2,4- or 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene cation, and a second isomer of the type (C6H5)-C≡C-C(C6H5)═CH-CH(•+)CH-(C6H5) where the covalent addition of further ethynylbenzene molecules can occur. For the larger ions such as C32H24, C40H30, and C48H36, the major isomers present involve the growing oligomer sequence (C6H5)-C≡C-[C(C6H5)═CH]n-CH(•+)CH-(C6H5) with different locations and orientations of the phenyl groups along the chain. In addition, the larger ions contain another family of structures consisting of neutral ethynylbenzene molecules associated with the blocked cyclic isomer ions such as the diphenylcyclobutadiene and triphenylbenzene cations. Low-energy dissociation channels corresponding to evaporation of ethynylbenzene molecules weakly associated with the covalent ions are observed in the large clusters in addition to the high-energy channels corresponding to fragmentation of the covalently bonded ions. However, in small clusters only high-energy dissociation channels are observed corresponding to the characteristic fragmentation of the molecular ions, thus providing structural signatures to identify the product ions and establish the mechanism of intracluster ionic polymerization.

Formation of complex organics in the gas phase by sequential reactions of acetylene with the phenylium ion.

In this paper, we report a study on the reactivity of the phenylium ion with acetylene, by measuring product yield as a function of pressure and temperature using mass-selected ion mobility mass spectrometry. The reactivity is dominated by a rapid sequential addition of acetylene to form covalently bonded C8H7(+) and C10H9(+) ions with an overall rate coefficient of 7-5 × 10(-10) cm(3) s(-1), indicating a reaction efficiency of nearly 50% at room temperature. The covalent bonding nature of the product ions is confirmed by high temperature studies where enhanced production of these ions is observed at temperatures as high as 660 K. DFT calculations at the UPBEPBE/6-31++G** level identify the C8H7(+) adduct as 2-phenyl-ethenylium ion, the most stable C8H7(+) isomer that maintains the phenylium ion structure. A small barrier of 1.6 kcal/mol is measured and attributed to the formation of the second adduct C10H9(+) containing a four-membered ring connected to the phenylium ion. Evidence for rearrangement of the C10H9(+) adduct to the protonated naphthalene structure at temperatures higher than 600 K is provided and suggests further reactions with acetylene with the elimination of an H atom and an H2 molecule to generate 1-naphthylacetylene or acenaphthylene cations. The high reactivity of the phenylium ion toward acetylene is in sharp contrast to the low reactivity of the benzene radical cation with a reaction efficiency of 10(-4)-10(-5), confirming that the first step in the cation ring growth mechanism is the loss of an aromatic H atom. The observed reactions can explain the formation of complex organics by gas phase ion-molecule reactions involving the phenylium ion and acetylene under a wide range of temperatures and pressures in astrochemical environments.

Structure and hydration of the C4H4●+ ion formed by electron impact ionization of acetylene clusters.

Here we report ion mobility experiments and theoretical studies aimed at elucidating the identity of the acetylene dimer cation and its hydrated structures. The mobility measurement indicates the presence of more than one isomer for the C(4)H(4)(●+) ion in the cluster beam. The measured average collision cross section of the C(4)H(4)(●+) isomers in helium (38.9 ± 1 Å(2)) is consistent with the calculated cross sections of the four most stable covalent structures calculated for the C(4)H(4)(●+) ion [methylenecyclopropene (39.9 Å(2)), 1,2,3-butatriene (41.1 Å(2)), cyclobutadiene (38.6 Å(2)), and vinyl acetylene (41.1 Å(2))]. However, none of the single isomers is able to reproduce the experimental arrival time distribution of the C(4)H(4)(●+) ion. Combinations of cyclobutadiene and vinyl acetylene isomers show excellent agreement with the experimental mobility profile and the measured collision cross section. The fragment ions obtained by the dissociation of the C(4)H(4)(●+) ion are consistent with the cyclobutadiene structure in agreement with the vibrational predissociation spectrum of the acetylene dimer cation (C(2)H(2))(2)(●+) [R. A. Relph, J. C. Bopp, J. R. Roscioli, and M. A. Johnson, J. Chem. Phys. 131, 114305 (2009)]. The stepwise hydration experiments show that dissociative proton transfer reactions occur within the C(4)H(4)(●+)(H(2)O)(n) clusters with n ≥ 3 resulting in the formation of protonated water clusters. The measured binding energy of the C(4)H(4)(●+)H(2)O cluster, 38.7 ± 4 kJ/mol, is in excellent agreement with the G3(MP2) calculated binding energy of cyclobutadiene(●+)·H(2)O cluster (41 kJ/mol). The binding energies of the C(4)H(4)(●+)(H(2)O)(n) clusters change little from n = 1 to 5 (39-48 kJ/mol) suggesting the presence of multiple binding sites with comparable energies for the water-C(4)H(4)(●+) and water-water interactions. A significant entropy loss is measured for the addition of the fifth water molecule suggesting a structure with restrained water molecules, probably a cyclic water pentamer within the C(4)H(4)(●+)(H(2)O)(5) cluster. Consequently, a drop in the binding energy of the sixth water molecule is observed suggesting a structure in which the sixth water molecule interacts weakly with the C(4)H(4)(●+)(H(2)O)(5) cluster presumably consisting of a cyclobutadiene(●+) cation hydrogen bonded to a cyclic water pentamer. The combination of ion mobility, dissociation, and hydration experiments in conjunction with the theoretical calculations provides strong evidence that the (C(2)H(2))(2)(●+) ions are predominantly present as the cyclobutadiene cation with some contribution from the vinyl acetylene cation.

Formation of complex organics from acetylene catalyzed by ionized benzene.

We present direct evidence for low temperature associative charge transfer (ACT) reactions of acetylene onto the benzene cation that catalyze the conversion of acetylene molecules into polymerized cations and for high temperature addition/elimination reactions that lead to the generation of naphthalene-type ions. At low temperatures acetylene molecules bind noncovalently to the benzene cation, where partial charge transfer from the ion activates an acetylene molecule for addition polymerization with other associated acetylene molecules, thus amounting to catalytic cyclization/polymerization of the acetylene molecules. At high temperatures the barrier of the covalent addition of acetylene to the benzene cation to form a styrene-type ion is measured as 3.5 kcal/mol. The second acetylene addition followed by H elimination to form a naphthalene-type ion is calculated to be highly exothermic and without a barrier. These reactions can explain the formation of complex organics by gas phase ion-molecule reactions under a wide range of temperatures and pressures in astrochemical environments.

Gas phase reactions between acetylene radical cation and water. energies, structures and formation mechanism of C2H3O+ and C2H4O+* ions.

Reactions of the acetylene radical cation (C2H2(+*)) with H2O were investigated using ion mobility mass spectrometry. The primary products are the C2H3O(+) and C2H4O(+*) ions, produced with an overall rate coefficient k(300 K) = 2(+/-0.6) x 10(-11) cm(3) s(-1) that increases with decreasing temperature. The C2H4O(+*) (adduct) vs C2H3O(+) (H loss) ratio also increases with decreasing temperature, and with increasing third-body pressure. Ab initio calculations on the products showed seven stable C2H3O(+) isomers and eleven stable C2H4O(+*) isomers. In the C2H4O(+*) adduct channel, the reactivity and energetics suggest that the adduct is the H2C=CHOH(+*) (vinyl alcohol) ion. In the C2H3O(+) channel, the H loss occurs exclusively from water. The C2H3O(+) product ion undergoes slow deprotonation by water to form H(+)(H2O)n clusters. The reactivity, combined with energetics, suggests that the protonated ketene CH2COH(+) is the most likely observed C2H3O(+) ion probably with some contribution from the cyclic c-CH2CHO(+) ion.

Gas phase hydration of organic ions.

In this work, we study the hydration phenomenon on a molecular level in the gas phase where a selected number of water molecules can interact with the organic ion of interest. The stepwise binding energies (DeltaH degrees (n-1,n)) of 1-7 water molecules to the phenyl acetylene cation are determined by equilibrium measurements using an ion mobility drift cell. The stepwise hydration energies DeltaH degrees (n-1,n) are nearly constant at 39.7 +/- 6.3 kJ mol(-1) from n = 1 to 7. The entropy change is larger in the n = 7 step, suggesting cyclic or cage-like water structures. No water addition is observed on the ionized phenyl acetylene trimer consistent with cyclization of the trimer ion to form triphenyl benzene cations C(24)H(18) (+) which are expected to interact weakly with the water molecules due to steric interactions and the delocalization of the charge on the large organic ion. The work demonstrates that hydration studies of organic ions can provide structural information on the organic ions.

Polymerization of ionized acetylene clusters into covalent bonded ions: evidence for the formation of benzene radical cation.

Since the discovery of acetylene and benzene in protoplanetary nebulae under powerful ultraviolet ionizing radiation, efforts have been made to investigate the polymerization of ionized acetylene. Here we report the efficient formation of benzene ions within gas-phase ionized acetylene clusters (C2H2)n+ with n = 3-60. The results from experiments, which use mass-selected ion mobility techniques, indicate that the (C2H2)3+ ion has unusual stability similar to that of the benzene cation; its primary fragment ions are similar to those reported from the benzene cation, and it has a collision cross section of 47.4 A2 in helium at 300 K, similar to the value of 47.9 A2 reported for the benzene cation. In other words, (C2H2)3+ structurally looks like benzene, it has stability similar to that of benzene, it fragments such as benzene, therefore, it must be benzene!