JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A, cilt.114, sa.15, ss.5104-5112, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
Gas phase FeO+ can convert methane to methanol under thermal conditions. Two key intermediates of this reaction are the [HO−Fe−CH3]+ insertion intermediate and Fe+(CH3OH) exit channel complex. These intermediates are selectively formed by reaction of laser-ablated Fe+ with organic precursors under specific source conditions and are cooled in a supersonic expansion. Vibrational spectra of the sextet and quartet states of the intermediates in the O−H and C−H stretching regions are measured by infrared multiple photon dissociation of Fe+(CH3OH) and [HO−Fe−CH3]+ and by monitoring argon atom loss following irradiation of Fe+(CH3OH)(Ar) and [HO−Fe−CH3]+(Ar)n (n = 1, 2). Analysis of the experimental results is aided by comparison with hybrid density functional theory computed frequencies. Also, an improved potential energy surface for the FeO+ + CH4 reaction is developed based on CCSD(T) and CBS-QB3 calculations for the reactants, intermediates, transition states, and products.