Characterization of the Reaction Products of Laser-Ablated Late Lanthanide Metal Atoms with Molecular Oxygen: Infrared Spectra of LnO, LnO+, LnO-, LnO2, LnO2-, LnO3-, and (LnO)2 in Solid Argon

This paper is the second segment of an investigation into the reaction products of laser-ablated lanthanide metal atoms with O2. There is general agreement with previous gas-phase and matrix infrared observations of neutral lanthanide monoxides; the frequencies of monoxide cations and anions are original to this work. The dioxide anion vibrational frequencies of all late lanthanides and neutral frequencies of five of the last seven are reported. In conjunction with the earlier part of this study, it is found that the average vibrational frequencies of the early lanthanide dioxide anions are lower than their neutral counterparts, while those of the late lanthanide dioxide anions are higher. Doping the electron scavenger, CCl4, into these samples provides a diagnostic test for the identification of molecular cations and anions by matrix infrared spectroscopy.