Issue 32, 2022

Spectroscopic evidence of S∴N and S∴O hemibonds in heterodimer cations

Abstract

Computational and condensed phase experimental evidence for the existence of S∴N and S∴O hemibonded structures has been reported previously, but no gas phase experimental evidence has been reported. To experimentally explore the existence of the S∴N and S∴O hemibonds in the gas phase, we recorded the infrared photodissociation action spectra of four cationic clusters: [CH3SH–NH3]+, [CH3SCH3–NH3]+, [CH3SCH3–H2O]+, and [CH3OCH3–H2O]+. Combined with the calculation results, it is found that the S∴N hemibonded structure is competitive with the S⋯HN H-bonded structure, though only the latter structure is actually observed in [CH3SH–NH3]+. The spectral and theoretical results show that hemibonds can form between the second- (oxygen or nitrogen) and the third-period elements (sulfur) in the heterodimer clusters of [CH3SCH3–NH3]+ and [CH3SCH3–H2O]+. However, the S∴N and S∴O hemibonded structures are found competitive with the C⋯HN and CH⋯O H-bonded structures, respectively, and both the structures coexist. On the other hand, the O∴O hemibonded structure is much less stable than other hydrogen bonded (H-bonded) structures in [CH3OCH3–H2O]+, and it shows no clear contribution to the observed spectrum. This study provides direct spectroscopic evidence for the existence of S∴N and S∴O hemibonds in the gas phase and their competition with the H-bonds, which may be also fundamentally important in biological processes.

Graphical abstract: Spectroscopic evidence of S∴N and S∴O hemibonds in heterodimer cations

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Feb 2022
Accepted
24 May 2022
First published
10 Jun 2022

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022,24, 19354-19361

Spectroscopic evidence of S∴N and S∴O hemibonds in heterodimer cations

X. Sun, M. Xie, W. Qiu, C. Wei, X. Chen and Y. Hu, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 19354 DOI: 10.1039/D2CP00904H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements