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Intact Four‐atom Organic Tetracation Stabilized by Charge Localization in the Gas Phase
Author(s) -
Yatsuhashi Tomoyuki,
Toyota Kazuo,
Mitsubayashi Naoya,
Kozaki Masatoshi,
Okada Keiji,
Nakashima Nobuaki
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201600555
Subject(s) - dissociation (chemistry) , chemistry , metastability , chemical physics , electron , dipole , coulomb explosion , atom (system on chip) , atomic physics , charge (physics) , quantum tunnelling , molecular physics , ion , physics , condensed matter physics , ionization , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , computer science , embedded system
Several features distinguish intact multiply charged molecular cations (MMCs) from other species such as monocations and polycations: high potential energy, high electron affinity, a high density of electronic states with various spin multiplicities, and charge‐dependent reactions. However, repulsive Coulombic interactions make MMCs quite unstable, and hence small organic MMCs are currently not readily available. Herein, we report that the isolated four‐atom molecule diiodoacetylene survives after the removal of four electrons via tunneling. We show that the tetracation remains metastable towards dissociation because of the localization (91–95 %) of the positive charges on the terminal iodine atoms, ensuring minimum Coulomb repulsion between adjacent atoms as well as maximum charge‐induced attractive dipole interactions between iodine and carbon. Our approach making use of iodines as the positively charged sites enables small organic MMCs to remain intact.