The generation and electron spin resonance characterization of ^63,65Cu¹²CH₂ and ^63,65Cu¹³CH₂ in neon matrices Available to Purchase

The first ESR (electron spin resonance) results are reported for a metal–methylene radical. The CuCH₂ molecule was generated by trapping the products of the pulsed laser vaporization of copper in the presence of cyclopropane in neon matrices at 4 K. A second generation procedure involved the laser vaporization of elemental carbon and copper in the presence of H₂(g). The unpaired electron in CuCH₂ was found to occupy primarily the carbon p orbital which was perpendicular to the C_2v molecular plane. This electronic distribution confirms the ²B₁ ground state assignment predicted by previous theoretial calculations. The neon matrix magnetic parameters (MHz) were: g_⊥=2.000(3); g_∥=2.0027(3); ⁶³Cu: A_∥=303(1); A_⊥=306(1); H:‖A_∥‖=66.6(3); ‖A_⊥‖ =43.1(3) and ¹³C:‖A_iso‖=124.3(5).