Acidity trends in alpha,beta-unsaturated alkanes, silanes, germanes, and stannanes.

The gas-phase acidity of ethyl-, vinyl-, ethynyl-, and phenyl-substituted silanes, germanes, and stannanes has been measured by means of FT-ICR techniques. The effect of unsaturation on the intrinsic acidity of these compounds and the corresponding hydrocarbons was analyzed through the use of G2 ab initio and DFT calculations. In this way, it was possible to get a general picture of the acidity trends within group 14. As expected, the acid strength increases down the group, although the acidity differences between germanium and tin derivatives are already rather small. As has been found before for amines, phosphines, and arsines, the carbon, silicon, germanium, and tin alpha,beta-unsaturated compounds are stronger acids( )than their saturated analogues. The acidifying effect of unsaturation is much larger for carbon than for Si-, Ge-, and Sn-containing compounds. The allyl anion is better stabilized by resonance than its Si, Ge, and Sn analogues, [CH(2)(-)(delta)--CH(+)(delta)(') --CH(2)(-)(delta)](-) vs [CH(2)(-)(delta)()II = CH(-)(delta)()III - XH(2)(-)(delta)()IV](-) (X = Si, Ge, Sn). The enhanced acid strength of unsaturated compounds is essentially due to a greater stabilization of the anion with respect to the neutral, because the electronegativity of the alpha,beta-unsaturated carbon group increases with its degree of unsaturation. The phenyl derivatives are systematically weaker acids than the corresponding ethynyl derivatives by 15-20 kJ mol(-)(1). Experimentally, toluene acidity is very close to that of propyne, because the deprotonation of propyne takes place preferentially at the =CH group rather than at the -CH(3) group.

Gas-phase basicity of polyfunctional amidinazines: experimental evidence of preferred site(s) of protonation

Gas-phase basicities of four polyfunctional N1,N1-dimethyl-N2-azinylformamidines (1-4) are obtained from proton-transfer equilibrium constant determinations, using Fourier transform ion-cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Comparison with model amidines and azines (GB revised according to the recent compilation of Hunter and Lias) indicates the aza group as the favored site of protonation. The strong basicity of ortho derivatives is explained in term of intramolecular stabilization (the so-called "internal solvation").

Application of experimental (FT-ICR) and theoretical (AM1) methods to the study of proton-transfer reactions for tautomerizing amidines in the gas phase.

Semiempirical calculations (AM1) together with experimental mass spectrometric (FT-ICR) data indicate the imino nitrogen atom as the favoured site of protonation and the amino nitrogen atom as the site of deprotonation of the amidine group in the gas phase. For tautomerizing N-methyl-N'-phenylbenzamidine the tautomer with the phenyl group at the imino nitrogen atom weakly predominates in tautomeric mixture.

Gas-phase reactions of Sc(+), Y (+), and Lu (+) with alcohols. Effects of the class and chain length of alcohols on the nature of primary products.

The primary gas-phase reactions between methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol, propan-2-ol, and 2-methyipropan-2-ol and the isovalent rare earth metal ions Sc(+), Y(+), and Lu(+) generated by laser desorption-ionization of metal targets have been investigated by using a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. The three metal ions react exothermically with all the alcohols. The overall reactivity is controlled by the high oxophilicity of these metals, and the primary metallated ions obtained are principally oxygenated species. However, the number and the nature of these primary products depends on the electronic configuration of the metal ions as well as on the class and the principal chain length of alcohols. The order of reactivity is Y(+) > Sc(+) > Lu(+). The Y(+) and Sc(+) ions principally react via C-O and O-H insertions, whereas Lu+ reacts by direct abstraction or via various five-center electrocyclic mechanisms as a function of the class and the alcohol chain length.

Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance study of the gas-phase acidities of germane and methylgermane; Bond dissociation energy of germane.

An accurate gas-phase acidity for germane (enthalpy scale, equivalent to the proton affinity of GeH3 (-)), ΔH acid (o)(GeH4) = 1502.0 ± 5.1 kJ mol(-1), is obtained by constructing a consistent acidity ladder between GeH4, and H2S by using Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance spectrometry, and 0 and 298.15 K values for the first bond dissociation energy of GeH4 are proposed: D0 (o)(H3Ge-H) = 352 ± 9 kJ mol(-1); D (o)(H3Ge-H) = 358 ± 9 kJ mol(-1), respectively. These results are compared with experimental and theoretical data reported in the literature. Methylgermane was found to be a weaker acid than germane by approximately 35 kJ mol(-1): ΔH acid (o) = 1536.6 kJ mol(-1).