Infrared Spectroscopic and Theoretical Studies of the 3d Transition Metal Oxyfluoride Molecules

Abstract

A collection of 3d transition metal (V, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) oxyfluorides were prepared via the reactions of laser-ablated metal atoms and OF2 in an argon matrix, and the products were identified by infrared spectroscopy together with 18OF2 substitution. OMF2 is the major product from the reactions of metal atoms and OF2. The tetravalent metal center is coordinated to two fluorine atoms and one oxygen atom. Triatomic OMF molecules were observed in the reactions of V, Mn, Fe, and Co with OF2. In addition to OMF and OMF2, OMnF3 and OFeF3 were also formed presumably via the reactions of OMnF and OFeF with F2 resulting from photodecomposition of OF2. The seldom observed OF radical was produced in all of these experiments. Electronic structure calculations at the density functional theory and molecular orbital theory including electron correlation effects (CCSD(T) and CASPT2) levels are used to aid in the assignment of the structures. For OMF (M = Sc-Mn), the structures are bent and those for M = Fe-Cu are linear. The OMF2 molecules are optimized to be C2v structures. Both OMF and OMF2 have a high spin ground state, with the exception of OCoF2 in which the ground state quartet is the lower energy structure. The M-O stretching frequency is a sensitive measure of the computational method in terms of the bond angle, the coupling of the M-O and M-F stretches, and the amount of spin on the oxygen. A bonding analysis in terms of the CAS orbitals shows that a number of the structures have a multireference character after M = Cr. Oxidation states of the metal are given based on the CASPT2 results. Heats of formation for the OMF and OMF2 are reported.