Matrix Isolation and Mass Spectrometric Studies of the Vaporization of Alkali Metal Oxoselenium Salts: Characterization of Molecular M2SeO4, M2SeO3, and MSeO2

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/j100160a051

Solid samples of alkali metal selenates (M2SeO4) and selenites (M2SeO3) have been heated in vacuo, and the vaporization products studied by using a combination of mass spectrometric and matrix isolation IR techniques.Although some decomposition was observed, evidence was obtained for the existence of the ternary molecular salts M2SeO4 and M2SeO3 (M = Na, K, Rb, Cs) and also for the novel Se(III) species MSeO2.The molecular symmetries are identified as D_2d, C_s, and C_2v respectively, on the basis of vibrational selection rules, and the various O-Se-O bond angles in these species are estimated from selenium isotope shifts and relative band intensities.