The SmO+ bond energy has been measured by monitoring the threshold for photodissociation of the cryogenically cooled ion. The action spectrum features a very sharp onset, indicating a bond energy of 5.596 ± 0.004 eV. This value, when combined with the literature value of the samarium ionization energy, indicates that the chemi-ionization reaction of atomic Sm with atomic oxygen is endothermic by 0.048 ± 0.004 eV, which has important implications on the reactivity of Sm atoms released into the upper atmosphere. The SmO+ ion was prepared by electrospray ionization followed by collisional breakup of two different precursors and characterized by the vibrational spectrum of the He-tagged ion. The UV photodissociation threshold is similar for the 10 K bare ion and the He tagged ion, which rules out the possible role of metastable electronically excited states. Reanalysis and remeasurement of previous reaction kinetics experiments that are dependent on D0(SmO+) are included, bringing all experimental results in accord.

We report vibrational spectra of the H2-tagged, cryogenically cooled X−∙HOCl (X = Cl, Br and I) ion-molecule complexes and analyze the resulting band patterns with electronic structure calculations and an anharmonic theoretical treatment of nuclear motions on extended potential energy surfaces. The complexes are formed by "ligand exchange" reactions of X−∙(H2O) n clusters with HOCl molecules at low pressure (~10−2 mbar) in a radio-frequency ion guide. The spectra generally feature many bands in addition to the fundamentals expected at the double harmonic level. These "extra bands" appear in patterns that are similar to those displayed by the X−∙HOD analogues, where they are assigned to excitations of nominally IR forbidden overtones and combination bands. The interactions driving these features include mechanical and electronic anharmonicities. Particularly intense bands are observed for the v = 0 → 2 transitions of the out-of-plane bending soft modes of the HOCl molecule relative to the ions. These involve displacements that act to break the strong H-bond to the ion, which give rise to large quadratic dependences of the electric dipoles (electronic anharmonicities) that drive the transition moments for the overtone bands. On the other hand, overtone bands arising from the intramolecular OH bending modes of HOCl are traced to mechanical anharmonic coupling with the v = 1 level of the OH stretch (Fermi resonances). These interactions are similar in strength to those reported earlier for the X‾∙HOD complexes.

In the presence of a halide ion, hypohalous acids can adopt two binding motifs upon formation of the ion–molecule complexes [XHOY]− (X, Y = Cl, Br, I): a hydrogen (HB) bond to the acid OH group and a halogen (XB) bond between the anion and the acid halogen. Here we isolate the X-bonded Cl–·IOH ion–molecule complex by collisions of I–·(H2O) n clusters with HOCl vapor and measure its vibrational spectrum by IR photodissociation of the H2-tagged complex. Anharmonic analysis of its vibrational band pattern reveals that formation of the XB complex results in dramatic lowering of the HOI bending fundamental frequency and elongation of the O–I bond (by 168 cm–1 and 0.13 Å, respectively, relative to isolated HOI). The frequency of the O–I stretch (estimated 436 cm–1) is also encoded in the spectrum by the weak v = 0 → 2 overtone transition at 872 cm–1.

The kinetics of SmO n + (n = 0–2) and NdO n + (n = 0–2) with O3 are measured using a selected-ion flow tube. Reaction of Nd+ to yield NdO+ + O2 occurs rapidly, with a rate constant near the capture-controlled limit of ∼8 × 10–10 cm3 s–1. NdO+ reacts at ∼40% of the capture limit to yield NdO2 + with little temperature dependence from 200 to 400 K. NdO2 + likely reacts very slowly (k ∼ 10–13 cm3 s–1) to yield NdO+ + 2O2, does not react to yield NdO3 +, and associates slowly (k ∼ 10–12 cm3 s–1) to yield NdO2 +(O3)1–3. Reaction of Sm+ also yields SmO+ at near the capture limit at all temperatures, but a significant fraction (∼50%) of the SmO+ is produced in excited states that are long-lived compared to the millisecond time scale of the experiment. These states are evidently resistant to both radiative and collisional relaxation. The excited-state production is likely due to a spin-conservation constraint on the reaction, despite the large spin–orbit coupling typical for lanthanide-containing species. Ground-state SmO+ reacts inefficiently (k = 2 × 10–11 (T/300)−2.5 cm3 s–1) to yield SmO2 + + O2, while the excited-state SmO+* reacts at the capture limit, with branching to yield Sm+ + 2O2 (ΔH r,0K = 148.7 ± 0.4 kJ mol–1 for ground-state SmO+) approximately 60% of the time, the remainder forming SmO2 +, which further reacts with O3 to yield SmO+ at about 1% of the collisional value.

The room-temperature rate constants and product branching fractions of CaO n + (n = 0–3) + O3 are measured using a selected ion flow tube apparatus. Ca+ + O3 produces CaO+ + O2 with k = 9 ± 4 × 10–10 cm3 s–1, within uncertainty equal to the Langevin capture rate constant. This value is significantly larger than several literature values. Most likely, those values were underestimated due to the reformation of Ca+ from the sequential chemistry of higher calcium oxide cations with O3, as explored here. A rate constant of 8 ± 3 × 10–10 cm3 s–1 is recommended. Both CaO+ and CaO2 + react near the capture rate constant with ozone. The CaO+ reaction yields both CaO2 + + O2 (0.80 ± 0.15 branching) and Ca+ + 2O2. Similarly, the CaO2 + reaction yields both CaO3 + + O2 (0.85 ± 0.15 branching) and CaO+ + 2O2. CaO3 + + O3 yield CaO2 + + 2O2 at 2 ± 1 × 10–11 cm3 s–1, about 2% of the capture rate constant. The results are supported using density functional calculations and statistical modeling. In general, CaO n + + O3 yield CaO n+1 + + O2, the expected oxidation. Some fraction of CaO n+1 + is produced with sufficient internal energy to further dissociate to CaO n–1 + + O2, yielding the same products as the oxidation of O3 by CaO n +. Mesospheric Ca and Ca+ concentrations are modeled as functions of day, latitude, and altitude using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM); incorporating the updated rate constants improves agreement with concentrations derived from lidar measurements.