Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 75−76, 2000

75Mössbauer Study of Iron Iodide Produced by a Reaction of Laser-Evaporated IronAtoms and Methyl Iodide
Yasuhiro Yamada*
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Science University of Tokyo, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
162-8601, Japan
Received: June 22, 2000; In Final Form: October 31, 2000
The reaction products of laser-evaporated iron atoms and methyl iodide CH3I are isolated in low-temperature Ar
matrices and their Mössbauer spectra are obtained. The yields of the products vary depending on the concentration of CH3I in the Ar matrix-gas. The Mössbauer parameters suggest that these species that are isolated inmatrices are monomeric FeI2 and dimeric Fe2I4, which is confirmed by molecular orbital calculations.

Introduction

Results and Discussion

Laser-evaporated iron atoms have high-energy and thus canreact with a variety of molecules to produce novel species.
These kinds of novel species are generally unstable and can
only be trapped in low-temperature matrices. The author has
previously reported the production of a variety of novel ironoxide and iron nitride species by reactions of laser-evaporated
iron atoms with oxygen1 and nitrogen.2 We have also reported
a study into the reaction of laser-evaporated iron atoms withSF6 gas, in which FeF3, Fe2F6, and Fe2F4 were investigated.3
Mössbauer spectra provide direct information of the electronic
properties of novel iron species that are trapped in low-temperature matrices, from which the structures of the species arederived with the assistance of molecular orbital calculations.
In the case of halide species, the isomer shift δ and quadrupole
splitting ∆EQ are strongly influenced by the number of halide
atoms and structure of a molecule. In this study, we investigate the novel iron iodide products of the reaction of laserevaporated iron atoms with methyl iodide CH3I.
The photochemistry of CH3I itself has been studied extensively, and it has been reported that the photolysis of CH3I
produces a methyl radical and an iodine atom.4 Laser-evaporated iron atoms may break CH3I molecules and release iodine
atoms for the production of iron iodide species. The vaporization of solid FeI2 produces the monomer as the major species
while the dimeric species was found as a minor species. Thevapor pressures of the two species have been measured and thestandard sublimation enthalpy has been reported.5 Although
the infrared spectra of gaseous FeI 2 has been reported,6 theMössbauer spectra of matrix-isolated FeI2 species has not.

Laser-evaporated iron atoms were condensed in an Ar
matrix with CH3I in various mixture ratios. The Mössbauer
spectra at 18 K are shown in Figure 1. In all the spectra, sextet
absorption that has the same Mössbauer parameters as those ofα-iron appeared, which is attributed to larger iron particles
produced directly by the laser-ablation of iron metal.1 At thelowest CH3I concentrations (Figure 1c), Fe atoms, Fe2 dimers
and two sets of doublets (species A and B) were observed.
Their Mössbauer parameters are summarized in Table 1. With
increasing CH3I concentration (Figure 1b), Fe atoms and Fe2
dimers disappear and the intensity of species B increases. At
the highest CH3I concentration (Figure 1a), species B occurs asa major product. The temperature of the samples wasincreased to 32 K for a 48 h period, and then the Mössbauer
spectra were taken again at 18 K in order to examine theeffects of annealing. No change was observed in the shape ofthe spectra, indicating that the species are stable enough not toundergo further reactions on migration at 32 K.

Pulsed laser light (248 nm, 200 mJ/pulse, 20 ns) from a KrF
excimer laser (Lambda Physik EMG101MSC) was focussed
on a block of 57Fe iron, and iron atoms were produced by laserevaporation. The gas mixture of CH3I and Ar gas was introduced by a magnetic pulse valve synchronized with the laser
pulse. Laser-evaporated iron atoms were mixed with the gas
and the reaction products were condensed onto an aluminum
plate cooled to 18 K using a closed cycle helium refrigerator.
The gas and laser pulses were repeated 5000 times at 0.2 Hz.
Mössbauer spectra were measured at 18 K in a transmission
geometry using a 57Co/Rh source.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: yasu@ch.kagu.sut.ac.jp. FAX:
+81-3-3235-2214.

a99

57

Fe/CH3I/Ar= 1/6/17098
B

Relative intensity / %Experimental

100A100.0b99.5

57

Fe/CH3I/Ar= 1/1.7/150

99.0

Fe100.0Fe 2c99.5

57Fe/CH3I/Ar= 1/0.2/130

99.0
98.5
-10-50Velocity / mm/s

510Figure 1. Mössbauer spectra at 18 K of laser-evaporated iron atoms
condensed with CH3 I in Ar matrices. Molar ratios are indicated in thefigure.

© 2000 The Japan Society of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences
Published on Web 12/28/2000

Yamada76 J. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 1, No. 2, 2000TABLE 1: Mössbauer Parameters of the Species Isolated in
Low-Temperature Matrices
Species

Isomer shift/ mm/s

Fe atom
Fe2A FeI2
B Fe2I4–0.77 ± 0.03
–0.12 ± 0.03
0.48 ± 0.11
0.80 ± 0.04

Quadrupolesplitting/ mm/s
4.05 ± 0.10
1.01 ± 0.10
2.28 ± 0.10

TABLE 2: Calculated Electronic Properties Using HF/6-311G
electronic properties / auSpecies

ρ(0)-15000

EFG

FeI292.09

-1.28

Fe2I4

91.68

-2.85

Fe atoms and Fe 2 dimers only appear at the lowest CH 3I
concentration, while large iron particles are always present,
independent of CH3I concentration. Fe atoms and Fe2 dimers
react easily to produce iron iodide species, more so than larger
particles. The excited iron atoms encounter CH3I moleculesand produce methyl radicals and iodine atoms in the gas phase.
Species A is produced at lower CH3I concentrations and isassigned to monomeric FeI2. The δ value of species A is too
small to be a regular high-spin divalent species, which may
reflect the high covalency of Fe-I bonds compared to otherhalide species. The intensity of species A decreases at higher
CH3I concentrations; monomeric FeI2 further reacts with other
FeI2 to produce Fe2I4 in the gas phase.
Species B is obtained at the highest CH3I concentration asmajor species. This species may be a stable form of ironiodide. It has been reported that solid FeI2 exhibits a CdI2
structure, and that it has δ=0.993 mm/s and ∆EQ=0.802 mm/s
at 78 K.7 The quadrupole splitting ∆EQ of species B is larger
that that of solid. Species B is not amorphous or a combination of clusters in various sizes because it has relatively sharp
absorption peaks. Generally, dimeric Fe2X4 (X = F, Cl, andBr) species are stable and have large ∆EQ values.3,8 Therefore,species B is assigned to dimeric Fe2I4.
We have reported the reaction of laser-evaporated Fe atoms
with SF6 and found that FeF3 and Fe2F6 were produced.3 In
this study, trivalent iron species such as FeI3 or Fe2I6 were notfound. Neither of these are obtained in the solid phase becauseof the reductive properties of I–, which forms I2. The interplay
between the oxidizing properties of Fe and the reducing properties of I also prevents the formation of FeI3 or Fe2I6 in the gas
phase. In a similar manner, the matrix-isolation system used inthis study was not able to produce trivalent iron iodide species.
Molecular orbital calculations of FeI 2 and Fe 2 I 4 were
performed using Gaussian 989 with HF/6-311G10 to confirm
the assignments. The procedure of performing molecularorbital calculations in this study is the same as that reported
previously.11 The calculated electronic properties (ρ(0) andEFG) and their optimized geometries are indicated in Table 2and Figure 2, respectively. Monomeric FeI2 has a linear strucI
2.89

2.63

IFe

2.64

IIFeFeI

135.39IFigure 2. Calculated structures of FeI2 and Fe2I4 using HF/6-311G.

ture with S=2 and dimeric Fe2I4 has a bridged structure with
S=4, similar to that of FeX2 and Fe2X4 (X=F, Cl, and Br). The
calculated electronic properties are in agreement with theassignment of species A and B to FeI2 and Fe2I4, respectively.
Further molecular orbital calculations were performed forspecies containing methyl group, and only FeI2 and Fe2I4 wereadequate to interpret the observed Mössbauer parameters. The
reactivity of an iodine atom is higher than that of a methyl
radical, and the only reaction products of laser-evaporated ironatoms obtained in this study were the iron iodide species.
The electron densities ρ(0) of the related species FeX2 andFe2X4 (X=F, Cl, and Br) have been estimated using HF/6-311G
and have been reported previously.3 The calculated electronic
properties of FeI2 and Fe2I4 is in agreement with other halide
species. The small δ value and large ρ(0) value for FeI2 andFe2I4 in the FeX2 and Fe2X4 series are obtained because of thelarger covalency of the iodide series. The energy of formationof Fe 2 I 4 from two FeI 2 molecules is estimated to be 15.75
kcal/mol on the basis of ground state energies; dimeric Fe2I4
was found to be more stable than monomeric FeI2, which is inagreement with the experimental results.
Conclusion
The reactions of laser-evaporated iron atoms with CH 3 I
were investigated, and the Mössbauer spectra of FeI2 and Fe2I4
trapped in low-temperature Ar matrices were obtained.
Monomeric FeI2 was produced at lower CH3I concentrations,and dimeric Fe2I4 was produced at higher CH3I concentrations.
Molecular orbital calculations proved that monomeric FeI2 anddimeric Fe2I4 have linear and bridged structure, respectively.
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