Activation of Methane by the Pyridine Radical Cation and its Substituted Forms in the Gas Phase

We present an experimental study of methane activation by pyridine cation and its substituents in the gas phase. Mass spectrometric experiments in an ion trap demonstrate that pyridine cation and some of its substituent cations are able to react with methane. The deuterated methane experiment has confirmed that the hydrogen atom in the ionic product of reaction does come from methane. The collected information about kinetic isotope effects has been used to distinguish the nature of the bond activation as a hydrogen abstraction. Furthermore, experimental results demonstrated that the substituent groups on the pyridine ring can crucially influence their reactivity in methane bond activation processes. Density functional calculation (DFT) was employed to study the electronic structures of the complex and reaction mechanism of CH4+C5H5N(+). The calculations confirmed the hypothesis from the experimental observation, namely, the reaction is rapid with no energy barrier.