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1. Bond Dissociation Energies of RuC, RhC, OsC, IrC, and PtC Measured by Resonant Three-Photon Ionization Spectroscopy

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.5c04466  

   Tomchak, Kimberly H; Morse, Michael D (September 2025, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A)

   Resonant three-photon ionization spectroscopy has been used to study the late 4d and 5d transition metal carbides RuC, RhC, OsC, IrC, and PtC. These species, like most diatomic transition metals with open nd subshells, exhibit an exceptionally high density of states near the ground separated atom limit. Spin-orbit and nonadiabatic interactions provide a means for the molecules to rapidly dissociate as soon as the bond dissociation energy (BDE) is exceeded. The result is a sharp predissociation threshold that is identified as the BDE. The high BDEs of these five molecules required the use of two tunable lasers to reach the BDE. Measured values of D0(RuC) = 6.312(2) eV, D0(RhC) = 6.007(2) eV, D0(OsC) = 6.427(2) eV, D0(IrC) = 6.404(2) eV, and D0(PtC) = 6.260(2) eV were obtained, where the value is parentheses represents the estimated error limit in units of the last quoted digit. A new electronic state of PtC, tentatively assigned as the c(_^3)Σ_1^+ state, has been found with T0 = 22442 cm-1. These BDEs are combined with recently measured ionization energies to obtain BDEs of the associated cations. Electronic structure calculations are also reported to investigate the chemical bonding in more detail. Trends in the BDEs of the diatomic transition metal carbides are also discussed. 

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2. Thermochemical properties of small rhenium molecules: ReC, ReN, ReO, ReS, and ReC2

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0302138  

   Tomchak, Kimberly H; Tieu, Erick; Kawagoe, Thomas T; Derbidge, Jordan; Clark, Keith T; Morse, Michael D; Welch, Bradley; Wilson, Angela K (November 2025, The Journal of Chemical Physics)

   The rhenium-containing molecules ReC, ReN, ReO, ReS, and ReC2 have been investigated using a pulsed laser ablation supersonic beam molecular source in resonant two-photon ionization experiments with time-of-flight mass spectrometric detection. Sharp predissociation thresholds have been observed, allowing precise bond dissociation energies (BDEs) to be measured as D0(ReC) = 5.731(3) eV, D0(ReN) = 5.635(3) eV, D0(ReO) = 5.510(3) eV, D0(ReS) = 3.947(3) eV, and D0(Re–C2) = 5.359(3) eV. The threshold for two-photon ionization was also measured for ReC, ReN, and ReO, providing ionization energies (IEs) of IE(ReC) = 8.425(12) eV, IE(ReN) = 8.193(20) eV, and IE(ReO) = 8.561(11) eV. These are the first measurements of these thermochemical quantities to be reported in the literature. The combination of BDEs and IEs allowed the BDEs of the cations ReC+, ReN+, and ReO+ to be determined via a thermochemical cycle as D0(Re+-C) = 5.140(12) eV, D0(Re+-N) = 5.275(20) eV, and D0(Re+-O) = 4.783(11) eV. In addition, computations of these thermochemical values were performed using density functional theory [B3LYP/aug-cc-pVQZ(-PP)] to determine the ground states and their geometric parameters. These were further studied at the CCSD(T) level with extrapolation to the complete basis set limit using aug-cc-pVXZ(-PP) basis sets (X = 3, 4, 5) to obtain computational values of the BDEs and IEs as well. The high-level super correlation consistent composite approach (s-ccCA) was also utilized, providing an additional approach for the prediction of thermochemical values. The electronic structure of the molecules is discussed, along with the periodic trends as the ligand is varied. 

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3. A Fast, Low-Cost and Simple Method for Predicting Atomic/Inter-Atomic Properties by Combining a Low Dimensional Deep Learning Model with a Fragment Based Graph Convolutional Network

   https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12121740  

   Gao, Peng; Liu, Zonghang; Zhang, Jie; Wang, Jia-Ao; Henkelman, Graeme (December 2022, Crystals)

   Calculations with high accuracy for atomic and inter-atomic properties, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and bond dissociation energies (BDEs) are valuable for pharmaceutical molecule structural analysis, drug exploration, and screening. It is important that these calculations should include relativistic effects, which are computationally expensive to treat. Non-relativistic calculations are less expensive but their results are less accurate. In this study, we present a computational framework for predicting atomic and inter-atomic properties by using machine-learning in a non-relativistic but accurate and computationally inexpensive framework. The accurate atomic and inter-atomic properties are obtained with a low dimensional deep neural network (DNN) embedded in a fragment-based graph convolutional neural network (F-GCN). The F-GCN acts as an atomic fingerprint generator that converts the atomistic local environments into data for the DNN, which improves the learning ability, resulting in accurate results as compared to experiments. Using this framework, the 13C/1H NMR chemical shifts of Nevirapine and phenol O–H BDEs are predicted to be in good agreement with experimental measurement. 

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4. Nature and strength of intrinsic cation–anion interactions of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate clusters

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cp01130h  

   Roy, H. A.; Rodgers, M. T. (June 2021, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics)

   null (Ed.)

   Imidazolium-based cations and the hexafluorophosphate anion are among the most commonly used ionic liquids (ILs). Yet, the nature and strength of the intrinsic cation–anion interactions, and how they influence the macroscopic properties of these ILs are still not well understood. Threshold collision-induced dissociation is utilized to determine the bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of the 2 : 1 clusters of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium cations and the hexafluorophosphate anion, [2C n mim:PF 6 ] + . The cation, [C n mim] + , is varied across the series, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium [C 2 mim] + , 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium [C 4 mim] + , 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium [C 6 mim] + , 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium [C 8 mim] + , to examine the structural and energetic effects of the size of the 1-alkyl substituent of the cation on the binding to [PF 6 ] − . Complementary electronic structure methods are employed for the [C n mim] + cations, (C n mim:PF 6 ) ion pairs, and [2C n mim:PF 6 ] + clusters to elucidate details of the cation–anion interactions and their impact on structure and energetics. Multiple levels of theory are benchmarked with the measured BDEs including B3LYP, B3LYP-GD3BJ, and M06-2X each with the 6-311+G(d,p) basis set for geometry optimizations and frequency analyses and the 6-311+G(2d,2p) basis set for energetic determinations. The modest structural variation among the [C n mim] + cations produces only minor structural changes and variation in the measured BDEs of the [2C n mim:PF 6 ] + clusters. Present results are compared to those previously reported for the analogous 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate IL clusters to compare the effects of these anions on the nature and strength of the intrinsic binding interactions. 

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5. Bond dissociation energies of diatomic transition metal nitrides

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0141182  

   Merriles, Dakota M.; Knapp, Annie S.; Barrera-Casas, Yexalen; Sevy, Andrew; Sorensen, Jason J.; Morse, Michael D. (February 2023, The Journal of Chemical Physics)

   Resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI) spectroscopy has been used to measure the bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of the diatomic transition metal nitrides ScN, TiN, YN, MoN, RuN, RhN, HfN, OsN, and IrN. Of these, the BDEs of only TiN and HfN had been previously measured. Due to the many ways electrons can be distributed among the d orbitals, these molecules possess an extremely high density of electronic states near the ground separated atom limit. Spin–orbit and nonadiabatic interactions couple these states quite effectively, so that the molecules readily find a path to dissociation when excited above the ground separated atom limit. The result is a sharp drop in ion signal in the R2PI spectrum when the molecule is excited above this limit, allowing the BDE to be readily measured. Using this method, the values D0(ScN) = 3.905(29) eV, D0(TiN) = 5.000(19) eV, D0(YN) = 4.125(24) eV, D0(MoN) = 5.220(4) eV, D0(RuN) = 4.905(3) eV, D0(RhN) = 3.659(32) eV, D0(HfN) = 5.374(4) eV, D0(OsN) = 5.732(3) eV, and D0(IrN) = 5.115(4) eV are obtained. To support the experimental findings, ab initio coupled-cluster calculations extrapolated to the complete basis set limit (CBS) were performed. With a semiempirical correction for spin–orbit effects, these coupled-cluster single double triple-CBS calculations give a mean absolute deviation from the experimental BDE values of 0.20 eV. A discussion of the periodic trends, summaries of previous work, and comparisons to isoelectronic species is also provided. 

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