Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Coulomb Explosion Imaging as a Tool to Distinguish Between Stereoisomers
Published on: August 18, 2017
A matrix isolation and computational study of the [C, N, F, S] isomers
Tibor Pasinszki1, Gábor Bazsó, Melinda Krebsz
1Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös University, P.O. Box 32, 1518 Budapest 112, Hungary. pasinszki@chem.elte.hu
Abstract:
The potential energy surface (PES) of the [C, N, F, S] system was investigated by quantum chemical and experimental methods. Seven minima were located on the ground state PES by density functional and ab initio electronic structure calculations. Four of these isomers, FSCN, FSNC, FCNS and FNCS, have an acyclic structure, while the other three, FC(NS), FS(CN) and FN(SC), form a three-membered fluorine-substituted ring. Out of these seven theoretically predicted isomers, FCNS and FC(NS) were successfully prepared in low-temperature Ar and Kr matrices by photochemical methods. The identification of these species was based on experimental considerations as well as on comparison of their IR spectra to computed anharmonic vibrational frequencies and infrared intensities. The present paper describes not only the first generation of both FCNS and FC(NS) species, but also reports the first time that a substituted CNS ring has been experimentally identified.
Related Concept Videos
Stereoisomerism of Cyclic Compounds
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
Disubstituted Cyclohexanes: cis-trans Isomerism
In cyclohexane, the substituents can occupy different positions generating distinct isomers.
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
Isomerism
Stereoisomers

