Detection of free monomeric silver(I) and gold(I) cyanides, AgCN and AuCN: microwave spectra and molecular structure.

The chemistry of the group 11 metal cyanide system has been of considerable interest because of the commercial importance of some of the complexes formed in this system. These metal cyanides contain one-dimensional linear -M-CN-M-CN-M- chains in the solid state; however, they have not been observed as free monomeric species. This Article reports the first detection of monomeric AgCN and AuCN in the gas phase by using rotational spectroscopy. The sputtering reaction of silver and/or gold sheets placed on a stainless steel cathode with CH3CN diluted in Ar resulted in the production of AgCN and AuCN spectra. Spectroscopic observation of the parent and several rare isotopic species allowed the determination of r(0), r(s), r(Iepsilon), r(m)(1), and r(m)(2) structures in the case of AgCN and r(0) and r(s) structures in the case of AuCN. All data indicate that these two species have a linear MCN geometry with a low-energy bending vibration.