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The rotational spectra of H 3 N⋯AgI and H 2 O⋯AgI have been recorded between 6.5 and 18.5 GHz by chirped-pulse Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy. The complexes were generated through laser vaporisation of a solid target of silver or silver iodide in the presence of an argon gas pulse containing a low concentration of the Lewis base. The gaseous sample subsequently undergoes supersonic expansion which results in cooling of rotational and vibrational motions such that weakly bound complexes can form within the expanding gas jet. Spectroscopic parameters have been determined for eight isotopologues of H 3 N⋯AgI and six isotopologues of H 2 O⋯AgI. Rotational constants, B 0 ; centrifugal distortion constants, D J , D JK or Δ J , Δ JK ; and the nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, χ aa (I) and χ bb (I) - χ cc (I) are reported. H 3 N⋯AgI is shown to adopt a geometry that has C 3v symmetry. The geometry of H 2 O⋯AgI is C s at equilibrium but with a low barrier to inversion such that the vibrational wavefunction for the v = 0 state has C 2v symmetry. Trends in the nuclear quadrupole coupling constant of the iodine nucleus, χ aa (I), of L⋯AgI complexes are examined, where L is varied across the series (L = Ar, H 3 N, H 2 O, H 2 S, H 3 P, or CO). The results of experiments are reported alongside those of ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)(F12*)/AVXZ level (X = T, Q).

The shapes of macromolecules and their complexes with small molecules are often determined by extended networks of hydrogen bonds. Here, for the first time, we provide a detailed description of a cooperative pair of hydrogen bonds to an individual molecule of urea. The structure and properties of a gas phase complex formed between urea and isocyanic acid are characterised through microwave spectroscopy and ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)(F12*)/aug-cc-pVTZ level.

An isolated, gas-phase dimer of imidazole is generated through laser vaporisation of a solid rod containing a 1:1 mixture of imidazole and copper in the presence of an argon buffer gas undergoing supersonic expansion. The complex is characterised through broadband rotational spectroscopy and is shown to have a twisted, hydrogen-bonded geometry. Calculations at the CCSD(T)(F12*)/cc-pVDZ-F12 level of theory confirm this to be the lowest-energy conformer of the imidazole dimer. The distance between the respective centres of mass of the imidazole monomer subunits is determined to be 5.2751(1) Å, and the twist angle γ describing rotation of one monomer with respect to the other about a line connecting the centres of mass of the monomers is determined to be 87.9(4)°. Four out of six intermolecular parameters in the model geometry are precisely determined from the experimental rotational constants and are consistent with results calculated ab initio., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Strongly bound complexes (CH2)3⋯MCl (M = Cu or Ag), formed by non-covalent interaction of cyclopropane and either cuprous chloride or argentous chloride, have been generated in the gas phase by means of the laser ablation of either copper or silver metal in the presence of supersonically expanded pulses of a gas mixture containing small amounts of cyclopropane and carbon tetrachloride in a large excess of argon. The rotational spectra of the complexes so formed were detected with a chirped-pulse, Fourier transform microwave spectrometer and analysed to give rotational constants and Cu and Cl nuclear quadrupole coupling constants for eight isotopologues of each of (CH2)3⋯CuCl and (CH2)3⋯AgCl. The geometry of each of these complexes was established unambiguously to have C(2v) symmetry, with the three C atoms coplanar, and with the MCl molecule lying along a median of the cyclopropane C3 triangle. This median coincides with the principal inertia axis a in each of the two complexes (CH2)3⋯MCl. The M atom interacts with the pseudo-π bond linking the pair of equivalent carbon atoms (F)C (F = front) nearest to it, so that M forms a non-covalent bond to one C-C edge of the cyclopropane molecule. The (CH2)3⋯MCl complexes have similar angular geometries to those of the hydrogen- and halogen-bonded analogues (CH2)3⋯HCl and (CH2)3⋯ClF, respectively. Quantitative details of the geometries were determined by interpretation of the observed rotational constants and gave results in good agreement with those from ab initio calculations carried out at the CCSD(T)(F12*)/aug-cc-pVTZ-F12 level of theory. Interesting geometrical features are the lengthening of the (F)C-(F)C bond and the shrinkage of the two equivalent (B)C-(F)C (B = back) bonds relative to the C-C bond in cyclopropane itself. The expansions of the (F)C-(F)C bond are 0.1024(9) Å and 0.0727(17) Å in (CH2)3⋯CuCl and (CH2)3⋯AgCl, respectively, according to the determined r0 geometries. The C-C bond lengthening is in each case about four times that observed by similar methods in the corresponding complexes of MCl with ethyne and ethene, even though the cyclopropane complexes are more weakly bound than their ethyne and ethene analogues. Reasons for the larger increase in r(CC) in the pseudo-π complexes are discussed.

A molecular complex of C2H2 and AuI has been generated and isolated in the gas phase through laser ablation of a gold surface in the presence of an expanding sample containing small percentages of C2H2 and CF3I in a buffer gas of argon. Rotational, B0, centrifugal distortion, ΔJ and ΔJK, and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, χaa(Au), χbb(Au) - χcc(Au), χaa(I), and χbb(I) - χcc(I), are measured for three isotopologues of C2H2···AuI through broadband rotational spectroscopy. The complex is C2v and T-shaped with C2H2 coordinating to the gold atom via donation of electrons from the π-orbitals of ethyne. On formation of the complex, the C≡C bond of ethyne extends by 0.032(4) Å relative to r(C≡C) in isolated ethyne when the respective r0 geometries are compared. The geometry of ethyne distorts such that ∠(*-C-H) (where * indicates the midpoint of the C≡C bond) is 194.7(12)° in the r0 geometry of C2H2···AuI. Ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)(F12*)/AVTZ level are consistent with the experimentally determined geometry and further allow calculation of the dissociation energy (De) as 136 kJ mol(-1). The χaa(Au) and χaa(I) nuclear quadrupole coupling constants of AuI and also the Au-I bond length change significantly on formation of the complex consistent with the strong interaction calculated to occur between C2H2 and AuI.