BINDING-ENERGIES OF CO+.(H2/CH4/C2H6)1,2,3 CLUSTERS

Using temperature dependent equilibria, binding energies for Co+.CH4 and Co+.C2H6 were measured to be 22.9 +/- 0.7 and 28.0 +/- 1.6 kcal/mol, respectively. Dissociation energies for loss of Y from Co+.X-Y (X = H-2, CH4, C2H6, and H2O, and Y = H-2, CH4, and C2H6) were also measured. Dissociation energies for loss of CH4 or C2H6 from the three ligand species Co+.(CH4)3 and Co+.(C2H6)3 were estimated. The binding energy of a given ligand is affected by the presence of other ligands through both Co+ 3d-4s electron hybridization and ligand-ligand interference. The present results agree well with the recent high level theoretical calculations of Perry, Ohanessian, and Goddard. Finally, entropies for most of the above reactions were also measured.