Structures and relative energies of gas‐phase [C 2 H 7 N] + ˙ radical cations

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations with split‐valence plus polarization basis sets and incorporating electron correlation and zero‐point energy corrections have been used to examine possible equilibrium structures on the [C 2 H 7 N] + ˙ surface. In addition to the radical cations of ethylamine and dimethylamine, three other isomers were found which have comparable energy, but which have no stable neutral counterparts. These are \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \mathop {\rm C}\limits^{\rm .} {\rm H}_{\rm 2} {\rm CH}_{\rm 2} \mathop {\rm N}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm H}_{\rm 3} $\end{document} , \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm CH}_{\rm 3} \mathop {\rm C}\limits^{\rm .} {\rm H}\mathop {\rm N}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm H}_{\rm 3} $\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm CH}_{\rm 3} \mathop {\rm N}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm H}_{\rm 2} \mathop {\rm C}\limits^. {\rm H}_{\rm 2} {\rm }, $\end{document} with calculated energies relative to the ethylamine radical cation of −33, −28 and 4 kJ mol −1 , respectively. Substantial barriers for rearrangement among the various isomers and significant binding energies with respect to possible fragmentation products are found. The predictions for \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \mathop {\rm C}\limits^. {\rm H}_{\rm 2} {\rm CH}_{\rm 2} \mathop {\rm N}\limits^ + {\rm H}_{\rm 3} $\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm CH}_{\rm 3} \mathop {\rm C}\limits^{\rm .} {\rm H}\mathop {\rm N}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm H}_{\rm 3}$\end{document} are consistent with their recent observation in the gas phase. The remaining isomer, \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm CH}_{\rm 3} \mathop {\rm N}\limits^{\rm + } {\rm H}_{\rm 2} \mathop {\rm C}\limits^{\rm .} {\rm H}_{\rm 2} {\rm },$\end{document} is also predicted to be experimentally observable.