Matrix isolation studies of the reactions of silicon atoms with molecular hydrogen. The infrared spectrum of silylene

Abstract

Silicon spontaneously inserts into the H–H bond of molecular hydrogen to form silylene in solid argon at 10 K. Infrared frequencies for the three fundamental modes of SiH₂, SiHD, and SiD₂ have been measured. The band assignments in the present study are totally different from those reported from a previous vacuum‐ultraviolet photolysis study of SiH₄. Silylene, formed from the molecular hydrogen reaction with silicon, reacts further with a second hydrogen molecule to give SiH₄. The force field of SiH₂ has been determined through normal coordinate analysis. Thermodynamic functions have also been calculated for this triatomic molecule.