Structural determination and gas-phase synthesis of monomeric, unsolvated IZnCH3 (X̃(1)A(1)): a model organozinc halide

Abstract

The first experimental structure of a monomeric organozinc halide, IZnCH3, has been measured using millimeter-wave direct absorption spectroscopy in the frequency range 256-293 GHz. IZnCH3 is a model compound for organozinc halides, widely used in cross-coupling reactions. The species was produced in the gas phase by reaction of zinc vapor with iodomethane in the presence of a dc discharge. IZnCH3 was identified on the basis of its pure rotational spectrum as well as those of the isotopically substituted species I(66)ZnCH3, I(64)Zn(13)CH3, and I(64)ZnCD3. IZnCH3 is unmistakably a symmetric top molecule (X̃(1)A1) belonging to the C3v point group, in agreement with DFT calculations, with the following experimentally determined structural parameters: rIZn = 2.4076(2) Å, rZnC = 1.9201(2) Å, rCH = 1.105(9) Å, and ∠H-C-H = 108.7(5)°. The basic methyl group geometry is not significantly altered in this molecule. Experimental observations suggest that IZnCH3 is synthesized in the gas phase by direct insertion of activated atomic zinc into the carbon-iodine bond of iodomethane.