Thermodynamic control in the reactions of gas phase anions. An abinitio and ion cyclotron resonance study of the reactions of anions with diborane

Abstract

The gas phase ion molecule reactions of a number of anions, X−, with diborane, B2H6 have been investigated using ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy. Two distinct reaction channels are observed in addition to simple proton transfer. The first of these is production of BH4− and BH2X while the second is formation of BH3X− and BH3. In order to determine the importance of thermodynamic factors in the course of reaction abinitio calculations have been carried out on the species involved to obtain the relative stabilities of the two possible pairs of products. The 4-31 +G basis set incorporating additional flat s and p functions has been used since this basis set has been demonstrated to give the most accurate description of anions to date. The results obtained indicate that the thermochemical factors are instrumental in determining the reaction pathway.