Generation and identification of neutral and cationic hydrogensilaisocyanid (“iminosilicon”, HNSi) by neutralization—reionization mass spectrometry and gaussian-1 ab initio molecular orbital calculations

Abstract

Mass spectrometric studies demonstrate that electron bombardment of a mixture of N 2/SiH 3I results in the formation of HNSi + which can be neutralized to the long-sought-after HNSi. The experimental results are complemented by high level ab initio MO calculations using Pople's gaussian-1 approach. Both theory and equipment point to the formation of HNSi + ( 2∑ +)/HNSi ( 1∑ +) rather than the isomeric forms NSiH + ( 2∑ +)/NSiH ( 1∑ +).