Methanol solvation of the Ag+ ion probed with infrared photodissociation spectroscopy of Ag+(CH3OH)n (n = 1–5)

The gas-phase Ag+(CH3OH)n ions are studied by infrared photodissociation spectroscopy in the OH-stretch region. An analysis of the spectra with the aid of density functional theory calculations suggests that a coordination number of three is favored in the cases of Ag+(CH3OH)2·N2, Ag+(CH3OH)3, Ag+(CH3OH)5, and probably of Ag+(CH3OH)4. For the first two complexes, two-coordinated structures are also identified as minor isomers, which are indicative of the 5s–4d hybridization in Ag+. The coordination geometries of Ag+(CH3OH)n are similar to those of Ag+(H2O)n, but different from tetrahedral coordinations of Ag(I) commonly found in neat solvents.