title: Molecular structure of the octatetranyl anion, C8H-: a computational study.
abstract: The equilibrium molecular structure of the octatetranyl anion, C8H(-), which has been recently detected in two astronomical environments, is investigated with the aid of both ab initio post-Hartree-Fock and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The model chemistry adopted in this study was selected after a series of benchmark calculations performed on molecular acetylene for which accurate gas-phase structural data are available. Geometry optimizations performed at the CCSD/6-311+G(2d,p), QCISD/6-311+G(2d,p), and MP4(SDQ)/6-311+G(2d,p) levels of theory yield for C8H(-) an interesting polyyne-type structure that defies the chemical formula displaying a simple alternation of triple and single carbon-carbon bonds, [:C[triple bond]C-C[triple bond]C-C[triple bond]C-C[triple bond]CH](1-). In the optimized geometry of C8H(-), as one proceeds from the naked carbon atom on one side of the chain to the CH unit on the opposite side of the chain, the short (formally triple) carbon-carbon bonds decrease in length from 1.255 to 1.213 A whereas the long (formally single) carbon-carbon bonds increase (albeit only slightly) in length from 1.362 to 1.378 A (CCSD results). In striking contrast, both MP2 and DFT (B3LYP and PBE0) calculations fail in reproducing the pattern of the carbon-carbon bond lengths obtained with the CCSD, QCISD, and MP4 methods. The structures of three shorter n-even chains, C(n)H(-) (n = 2, 4, and 6), along with those of four n-odd compounds (n = 3, 5, 7, and 9) are also investigated at the CCSD/6-311+G(2d,p) level of theory.
authors.affiliation: G-COE Laboratory, Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba-yama 6-6-07, Sendai 980-8579, Japan. fabio@che.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pichierri