Structural and electronic properties of HCnS- (n=4-11): anion photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional calculations

We investigated the HCnS- (n = 4-11) clusters using anion photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. The partially resolved vibrational spectra of the HCnS- (n = 4-11) clusters are obtained. We found that the vertical detachment energies of the HCnS- (n = 4-11) clusters display an obvious parity effect with increasing number of carbon atoms: the vertical detachment energies of the even-numbered HCnS- are higher than their neighboring odd- numbered counterparts; the spectral features of the even-numbered HCnS- are much sharper than those of their odd-numbered counterparts. The ground-state structures of the anionic and neutral HCnS (n = 4-11) clusters are linear with the H and S atoms locating at two ends of the carbon chain. The electron affinities of the neutral HCnS- (n = 4-11) clusters are determined based on the transitions from the ground states of HCnS- anions to the electronic ground states of HCnS neutral species