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Here we present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the fragmentation of o- and p-tetrafluorohydroquinone upon low energy electron attachment. Despite an identical ring-skeleton and identical functional groups in these constitutional isomers, they show distinctly different fragmentation patterns, a phenomenon that cannot be explained by distinct resonances or different thermochemistry. Using high-level quantum chemical calculations with the computationally affordable domain localized pair natural orbital approach, DLPNO-CCSD(T), we are able to provide a complete and accurate description of the respective reaction dynamics, revealing proton shuttling and transition states for competing channels as the explanation for the different behavior of these isomers. The results represent a "schoolbook example" of how the combination of experiment and modern high-level theory may today provide a thorough understanding of complex reaction dynamics by computationally affordable means.

The threshold photoelectron spectra and threshold photoionization mass spectra of 1-halogenated-1-silacyclohexanes, for the halogens X = F, Cl, Br, and I, have been obtained using synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet radiation and photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy. As confirmed by a similar ionization onset and density functional theory molecular orbitals, the ionization to the ground state is dominated by electron removal from the silacyclohexane ring for X = F, Cl, and Br, and from the halogen lone pair for X = I. The breakdown diagrams show that the dissociative photoionization mechanism is also different for X = I. Whereas the parent ions decay by ethylene loss for X = F to Br in the low-energy regime, the iodine atom is lost for X = I. The first step is followed by a sequential ethylene loss at higher internal energies in each of the compounds. It is argued that the tendency of silicon to lower bond angles stabilizes the complex cation in which C 2 H 4 is η 2 -coordinated to it, and which precedes ethylene loss. Together with the relatively strong silicon-halogen bonds and the increased inductive effect of the silacyclohexane ring in stabilizing the cation, this explains the main differences observed in the fragmentation of the halogenated silacyclohexane and halogenated cyclohexane ions. The breakdown diagrams have been modeled taking into account slow dissociations at threshold and the resulting kinetic shift. The 0 K appearance energies have been obtained to within 0.08 eV for the ethylene loss for X = F to Br (10.56, 10.51, and 10.51 eV, respectively), the iodine atom loss for X = I (10.11 eV), the sequential ethylene loss for X = F to I (12.29, 12.01, 11.94, and 11.86 eV, respectively), and the minor channels of H loss for X = F (10.56 eV) and propylene loss in X = Cl (also at 10.56 eV). The appearance energies for the major channels likely correspond to the dissociative photoionization reaction energy.

The molecular structure of 1,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)-1,1,2,2-tetramethyldisilane has been determined in three different phases (solid, liquid, and gas) using various spectroscopic and diffraction techniques. Both the solid-state and gas-phase investigations revealed only one conformer to be present in the sample analyzed, whereas the liquid phase revealed the presence of three conformers. The data have been reproduced using computational methods and a rationale is presented for the observation of three conformers in the liquid state.

The molecular structure of axial and equatorial conformers of 1-silyl-silacyclohexane, C(5)H(10)SiHSiH(3), and the thermodynamic equilibrium between these species were investigated by means of gas electron diffraction (GED), dynamic nuclear magnetic resonance (DNMR), temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy, and quantum chemical calculations (CCSD(T), MP2 and DFT methods). According to GED, the compound exists as a mixture of two conformers possessing the chair conformation of the six-membered ring and C(s) symmetry and differing in the axial or equatorial position of the SiH(3) group (axial = 57(7) mol %/equatorial = 43(7) mol %) at T = 321 K. This corresponds to an A value (free energy difference = G(axial) - G(equatorial)) of -0.17(15) kcal mol(-1). A low-temperature (13)C NMR experiment using SiD(4) as a solvent resulted in an axial/equatorial ratio of 45(3)/55(3) mol % at 110 K corresponding to an A value of 0.05(3) kcal mol(-1), and a DeltaG(#) value of 5.7(2) kcal mol(-1) was found at 124 K. Temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy in the temperature range of 210-300 K of the neat liquid, a THF solution, and a heptane solution indicates that the axial conformer is favored over the equatorial one by 0.26(10), 0.23(10), and 0.22(10) kcal mol(-1) (DeltaH values), respectively. CCSD(T)/CBS and MP2/CBS calculations in general predict both conformations to have very similar stability and are, thus, in excellent agreement with the DNMR result but in a slight disagreement with the GED and Raman results. Two DFT functionals, that account for dispersion interactions, M06-2X/pc-3 and B2PLYP-D/QZVPP, deviate from the high-level coupled cluster and MP2 calculations by only 0.1 kcal mol(-1) on average, whereas B3LYP/pc-3 calculations greatly overestimate the stability of the equatorial conformer.