A More Stable Configuration of HArF in Solid Argon

TLDR: An additional solid-state configuration of HArF with higher thermal stability is reported, which proves that the doublet at ∼2020 cm-1 originates from the * Address correspondence to this author: (e-mail) Leonid.Fi

Abstract: During the past decade a number of HRgY molecules (H ) hydrogen; Rg ) Ar, Kr, Xe; Y ) an electronegative fragment) have been characterized experimentally in rare-gas solids and computationally by using ab initio methods.1,2 These species are formed from neutral fragments,3 and experiments support their intrinsic stability.4 These molecules constitute an important intermediate during UV photolysis of HY molecules in rare-gas hosts demonstrating the locality of the primary photolysis.5 One of the HRgY molecules, HXeI, has recently been observed in Xe clusters.6 A stable Ar-containing molecule, HArF, was identified in an Ar matrix.2 The high-level ab initio calculations on HArF confirmed its intrinsic stability.7,8 An unclear experimental fact on HArF is its decrease upon annealing above 27 K,2 which contradicts the calculated decomposition barrier of 0.33 eV.7 In this communication, we report an additional solid-state configuration of HArF with higher thermal stability. The HF/Ar solid mixtures were studied in a closed-cycle helium cryostat (APD, DE 202A) at temperatures down to 7.5 K. The samples were deposited onto a cold CsI substrate by passing Ar gas (40Ar from AGA and 36Ar from ICON Services) over an HFpyridine polymer (Fluka) at room temperature. Photolysis of HF was performed with a Kr continuum lamp (Opthos) emitting in the 127-160 nm spectral interval. Our HF/Ar matrixes are quite monomeric as indicated by the IR absorption bands at 3962.5 and 3953.8 cm-1.9 HArF molecules are prepared in the following. First, HF is photodissociated, which stabilizes H and F atoms in solid Ar and leads to some formation of HArF. Next, the photolyzed sample is annealed, which mobilizes the atoms and leads to an increase in the HArF concentration below 20 K.2 The formation of HArF molecules is demonstrated by strong absorption bands at 1965.7, 1969.4, 1972.3 (νH-Ar), 686.9 (δH-Ar-F), and 435.7 cm-1 (νAr-F). The H-Ar stretching region is presented in Figure 1 (see the upper spectrum). The observed bands agree well with the calculated values and show proper shifts upon H and Ar isotopic substitutions. Surprisingly, annealing above 27 K destroys all bands listed above, which was tentatively explained by secondary reactions of mobile matrix species with HArF molecules.2 It was not noticed in the original paper on HArF2 that the decrease of “unstable” HArF molecules is accompanied with an increase of other bands in the H-Ar stretching (2016.3 and 2020.8 cm-1) and bending (693.5 and 697.0 cm-1) regions. This central observation of the present work is illustrated by the lower spectrum in Figure 1. A sign of the novel bands is visible already after annealing at 20 K. We suggest that this novel set of bands belong to HArF in a different solid-state configuration. This additional configuration is thermally rather “stable” and the corresponding bands decrease only with evaporation of the sample. The H-Ar stretching doublet shifts to 1494.0 and 1496.9 cm-1 upon deuteration, and to 2018.5 and 2023.1 cm-1 upon 36Ar/40Ar substitution [see Figure 2a], i.e., in accord with the calculations and experiment on “unstable” HArF.2 These observations prove that the doublet at ∼2020 cm-1 originates from the * Address correspondence to this author: (e-mail) Leonid.Khriachtchev@ Helsinki.Fi. (1) Lundell, J.; Khriachtchev, L.; Pettersson, M.; Rasanen, M. Low Temp. Phys. 2000, 26, 680. (2) Khriachtchev, L.; Pettersson, M.; Runeberg, N.; Lundell, J.; Rasanen, M. Nature (London) 2000, 406, 874. (3) Pettersson, M.; Nieminen, J.; Khriachtchev, L.; Rasanen, M. J. Chem. Phys. 1997, 107, 8423. (4) Lorenz, M.; Rasanen, M.; Bondybey, V. E. J. Phys. Chem. A 2000, 104, 3770. (5) Khriachtchev, L.; Pettersson, M.; Lundell, J.; Rasanen, M. J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 7727. (6) Baumfalk, R.; Nahler, N. H.; Buck, U. J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 4755 (7) Runeberg, N.; Pettersson, M.; Khriachtchev, L.; Lundell, J.; Rasanen, M. J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 836. (8) Lundell, L.; Chaban, G. M.; Gerber, R. B. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2000, 331, 308. (9) Anderson, D. T.; Winn, J. S. Chem. Phys. 1994, 189, 171. Figure 1. Formation of stable HArF in solid Ar. The HF/Ar matrix is deposited and photolyzed at 7.5 K and annealed at 20 and 35 K. Annealing above 27 K destroys unstable HArF (on the right) and forms stable HArF (on the left). The spectra are measured at 7.5 K.