Ionization energies of Li_nX (n = 2, 3; X = Cl, Br, I) molecules

Abstract

Molecules of Li(n)X (n = 2, 3; X = Cl, Br, I) were examined with a magnetic sector mass spectrometer by surface ionization using a triple rhenium filament impregnated with fullerene (C60). The ionization energies obtained for Li(2)Cl, Li(2)Br and Li(2)I molecules are 3.8 +/- 0.1, 3.9 +/- 0.1 and 4.0 +/- 0.1 eV, respectively. The first ionization energy of Li(2)Cl is documented, while there are no literature data for the ionization energies of Li(2)Br and Li(2)I. The molecules of Li(3)Cl, Li(3)Br and Li(3)I were detected experimentally for the first time with ionization energies of 4.0 +/- 0.1, 4.1 +/- 0.1 and 4.1 +/- 0.1 eV, respectively. The ionization energies of Li(n)X (n = 2, 3; X = Cl, Br, I) are in correlation with the theoretical prediction of their hyperlithiated configurations.

Formation and ionization energies of small chlorine‐doped lithium clusters by thermal ionization mass spectrometry

“…[42] The values of the ionization energies of Li n Cl, n = 2-6, vary only slightly, indicating that an increase in the number of lithium atoms from 2 to 6 in these clusters does not affect their IE.…”

“…It was observed that the presence of C 60 on the ionizing Re filament is necessary for obtaining these clusters. [42] In the present study, clusters of the type Li n Cl (n = 2-6) were obtained by evaporating only the lithium chloride salt, meaning that the experimental setup in Fig. 1 presents a simpler way of forming very small lithium monochloride clusters.…”

“…Experimental details have been given elsewhere. [42] Briefly, a solution of a mixture of LiCl/LiI salts was deposited on the side filaments. The side filaments were used to evaporate the sample, while the central filaments were used for ionization.…”

“…[42] These clusters were formed by TIMS using the triple filament technique, where the side filaments were used to evaporate the sample while the central filament was used for ionization of the neutral species. It was noted that the arrangement of the ionization and evaporation filaments in the ion source has an important role in obtaining this kind of cluster.…”

Low ionization potentials of Na4OCN superalkali molecules

“…The strong bonding interactions among the alkali metal "ligands" (L) which help to offset the octet-ruleviolating structure and antibonding L-M interactions are believed to be the major contributions to both the structure and stability of these species [1,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Since the first evidence of the Li 3 O molecule in 1978 [11], a number of lithium and other alkali metal containing compounds with unusual stoichiometries (e.g., Li 4 O, Li 5 O, Li 2 Cl, Li 2 F, Li 6 C, Na 3 O, Na 4 O) have been studied theoretically and experimentally [1,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. The most prominent examples of superalkalies are small (i.e., triatomic) alkali metal clusters and hyperalkali molecules ML k+n with n=1 which are characterized by the lowest IPs (i.e., Li 3 4.11 eV vs. Li 4 4.74 eV [23] or Na 3 O 3.13 eV vs. Na 4 O…”