Formation and characterization of thorium methylidene CH2=ThHX complexes

Laser-ablated thorium atoms react with methyl fluoride to give the CH2=ThHF molecule as the major product observed and trapped in solid argon. Infrared spectroscopy, isotopic substitution, and density functional theoretical frequency calculations confirm the identification of this methylidene complex. The four strongest computed absorptions (Th-H stretch, Th=C stretch, CH2 wag, and Th-F stretch) are the four vibrational modes observed. The CH2=ThHCl and CH2=ThHBr species formed from methyl chloride and methyl bromide exhibit the first three of these modes in the infrared spectra. The computed structures (B3LYP and CCSD) show considerable agostic interaction, similar to that observed for the Group 4 CH2=MHX (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) methylidene complexes, and the agostic angle and C=Th bond length decrease slightly in the CH2=ThHX series (X = F, Cl, Br).