REACTIVITIES OF TI8C12+ AT THERMAL ENERGIES

Reactivities of the Met-Car Ti8C12+ toward various molecules have been examined at thermal energies employing a selected drift tube reactor coupled with a laser induced plasma source. It is observed that this cluster is quite reactive toward molecules with either large dipole moments or pi-bonding systems. At room temperature Ti8C12+ is found to take up 8 polar molecules but only 4 molecules with pi-bonding systems. The Met-Car cluster ion reactions are observed to proceed mainly through association mechanisms leading to ligand attachment rather than those involving breaking and forming of new chemical bonds. In addition, Ti8C12+ is seen-to be inert even toward oxygen, which is known to be a good free radical scavenger. The assocition or attachment behavior of Ti8C12+ reactions is explained in terms of a closed structure of the Met-Car and the presence of titaniums in the framework of Ti8C12+. Hence,the observed reactivities of Ti8C12+ provide further suggestive evidence supporting the argument that the Met-Car Ti8C12 has a dodecahedral structure.