Oxidation of Small Boron Agglomerates: Formation of and Chemiluminescent Emission from BBO

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/j100335a016

A source configuration that lies intermediate to a low-pressure effusing molecular beam and a high-pressure flow device is used to generate boron cluster molecules in a highly oxidizing environment.Using this source operating in an NO2 or N2O oxidative environment, we generate a chemiluminescent emission spectrum, which we attribute to the asymmetric BBO molecule.The observed spectrum is characterized by a strong Δν=0, Δν=40 cm^-1 sequence grouping and a weaker Δν=+1 sequence (Δν=40 cm^-1), 440 cm^-1 to higher energy.A second sequence with Δν ca. 142 cm^-1 is also observed.Combining the 440-cm^-1 upper-state frequency with the 142-cm^-1 sequence structure implies a lower-state frequnce of ca. 582 cm^-1 for the B-B stretch, consistent with ab initio calculation.