Ce(x)O(y)⁻ (x = 2-3) + D2O reactions: stoichiometric cluster formation from deuteroxide decomposition and anti-Arrhenius behavior.

ABSTRACT

Reactions between small cerium oxide cluster anions and deuterated water were monitored as a function of both water concentration and temperature in order to determine the temperature dependence of the rate constants. Sequential oxidation reactions of the Ce(x)O(y)⁻ (x = 2, 3) suboxide cluster anions were found to exhibit anti-Arrhenius behavior, with activation energies ranging from 0 to -18 kJ mol⁻¹. Direct oxidation of species up to y = x was observed, after which, -OD abstraction and D2O addition reactions were observed. However, the stoichiometric Ce2O4⁻ and Ce3O6⁻ cluster anions also emerge in reactions between D2O and the respective precursors, Ce2O3D⁻ and Ce3O5D2⁻. Ce2O4⁻ and Ce3O6⁻ product intensities diminish relative to deuteroxide complex intensities with increasing temperature. The kinetics of these reactions are compared to the kinetics of the previously studied Mo(x)O(y)⁻ and W(x)O(y)⁻ reactions with water, and the possible implications for the reaction mechanisms are discussed.