Testing the limits of the 18-electron rule: the gas-phase carbonyls of Sc(+) and Y(+)

Scandium and yttrium carbonyl cations produced in the gas phase via laser vaporization are mass selected and studied with infrared laser spectroscopy in the C-O stretching region. Mass spectra, ion fragmentation behavior, and infrared spectra, complemented by computational chemistry, establish the coordination numbers and structures of these complexes. Sc(+) does not form the eight-coordinate 18-electron complex but instead produces a 16-electron seven-coordinate species. However, Y(+) forms the anticipated eight-coordinate structure. Density functional theory computations provide structures and corresponding vibrational spectra for these complexes. Sc(CO)7(+) has a C3v capped octahedral structure, while Y(CO)8(+) forms a D4d square antiprism. The C-O stretches at 2086 and 2087 cm(-1) for Sc(CO)7(+) and Y(CO)8(+), respectively, are among the most red-shifted frequencies measured for any transition metal carbonyl cation.