HIGHLY UNSATURATED PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM CARBENES PtC3 AND PdC3 ISOLATED AND CHARACTERIZED IN THE GAS PHASE

Abstract

Carbenes of platinum and palladium, PtC 3 and PdC 3 ,w ere generated in the gas phase through laser vaporization of ametal target in the presence of alow concentration of ahydrocarbon precursor undergoing supersonic expansion. Rotational spectroscopyand ab initio calculations confirm that both molecules are linear.The geometry of PtC 3 was accurately determined by fitting to the experimental moments of inertia of twenty-six isotopologues.T he results are consistent with the proposal of an autogenic isolobal relationship between O, Au + , and Pt atoms.