Negative-ion photoelectron spectroscopy, gas-phase acidity, and thermochemistry of the peroxyl radicals CH(3)OO and CH(3)CH(2)OO.

Methyl, methyl-d(3), and ethyl hydroperoxide anions (CH(3)OO(-), CD(3)OO(-), and CH(3)CH(2)OO(-)) have been prepared by deprotonation of their respective hydroperoxides in a stream of helium buffer gas. Photodetachment with 364 nm (3.408 eV) radiation was used to measure the adiabatic electron affinities: EA[CH(3)OO, X(2)A' '] = 1.161 +/- 0.005 eV, EA[CD(3)OO, X(2)A' '] = 1.154 +/- 0.004 eV, and EA[CH(3)CH(2)OO, X(2)A' '] = 1.186 +/- 0.004 eV. The photoelectron spectra yield values for the term energies: Delta E(X(2)A' '-A (2)A')[CH(3)OO] = 0.914 +/- 0.005 eV, Delta E(X(2)A' '-A (2)A')[CD(3)OO] = 0.913 +/- 0.004 eV, and Delta E(X(2)A' '-A (2)A')[CH(3)CH(2)OO] = 0.938 +/- 0.004 eV. A localized RO-O stretching mode was observed near 1100 cm(-1) for the ground state of all three radicals, and low-frequency R-O-O bending modes are also reported. Proton-transfer kinetics of the hydroperoxides have been measured in a tandem flowing afterglow-selected ion flow tube (FA-SIFT) to determine the gas-phase acidity of the parent hydroperoxides: Delta(acid)G(298)(CH(3)OOH) = 367.6 +/- 0.7 kcal mol(-1), Delta(acid)G(298)(CD(3)OOH) = 367.9 +/- 0.9 kcal mol(-1), and Delta(acid)G(298)(CH(3)CH(2)OOH) = 363.9 +/- 2.0 kcal mol(-1). From these acidities we have derived the enthalpies of deprotonation: Delta(acid)H(298)(CH(3)OOH) = 374.6 +/- 1.0 kcal mol(-1), Delta(acid)H(298)(CD(3)OOH) = 374.9 +/- 1.1 kcal mol(-1), and Delta(acid)H(298)(CH(3)CH(2)OOH) = 371.0 +/- 2.2 kcal mol(-1). Use of the negative-ion acidity/EA cycle provides the ROO-H bond enthalpies: DH(298)(CH(3)OO-H) = 87.8 +/- 1.0 kcal mol(-1), DH(298)(CD(3)OO-H) = 87.9 +/- 1.1 kcal mol(-1), and DH(298)(CH(3)CH(2)OO-H) = 84.8 +/- 2.2 kcal mol(-1). We review the thermochemistry of the peroxyl radicals, CH(3)OO and CH(3)CH(2)OO. Using experimental bond enthalpies, DH(298)(ROO-H), and CBS/APNO ab initio electronic structure calculations for the energies of the corresponding hydroperoxides, we derive the heats of formation of the peroxyl radicals. The "electron affinity/acidity/CBS" cycle yields Delta(f)H(298)[CH(3)OO] = 4.8 +/- 1.2 kcal mol(-1) and Delta(f)H(298)[CH(3)CH(2)OO] = -6.8 +/- 2.3 kcal mol(-1).

The infrared spectrum of the matrix-isolated phenyl radical.

We have measured the infrared absorption spectrum of C(6)H(5), /X (2)A(1), in an Ar matrix at 10 K. The experimental frequencies (cm(-)(1)) and polarizations follow. a(1) modes: 3086, 3072, 3037, 1581, 1441, 1154, 1027, 997, 976, 605; b(1) modes: 972, 874, 706, 657, 416; b(2) modes: 3071, 3060, 1624, 1432, 1321, 1283, 1159, 1063, and 587. Three different methods have been used for the production of the phenyl radicals. Infrared absorption spectra of five deuterated isotopomers, C(6)D(5), p-C(6)H(4)D, p-C(6)HD(4), o-C(6)H(4)D, and m-C(6)H(4)D, were recorded to compare experimental frequency shifts with calculated (UB3LYP/cc-pVDZ) harmonic frequency shifts. The use of CO(2) or NO as internal standards enabled the experimental determination of absolute infrared intensities. The linear dichroism was measured with photooriented samples to establish experimental polarizations of each vibrational band. True gas-phase vibrational frequencies were estimated by considering the gas-to-matrix shifts and matrix inhomogeneous line broadening. The phenyl radical matrix frequencies listed above are within +/-1% of the gas-phase vibrational frequencies. The C(6)H(5) frequencies from this paper supersede our earlier values reported in J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 7400-7401. See also: http://ellison.colorado.edu/phenyl.

Atmospheric aerosols as prebiotic chemical reactors.

Aerosol particles in the atmosphere have recently been found to contain a large number of chemical elements and a high content of organic material. The latter property is explicable by an inverted micelle model. The aerosol sizes with significant atmospheric lifetimes are the same as those of single-celled organisms, and they are predicted by the interplay of aerodynamic drag, surface tension, and gravity. We propose that large populations of such aerosols could have afforded an environment, by means of their ability to concentrate molecules in a wide variety of physical conditions, for key chemical transformations in the prebiotic world. We also suggest that aerosols could have been precursors to life, since it is generally agreed that the common ancestor of terrestrial life was a single-celled organism. The early steps in some of these initial transformations should be accessible to experimental investigation.