Reactions of small carbon anions with hydrogen sulfide, benzenethiol and sulfur

Carbon anions Cn- (n=4–13, 15–25 odd values only), generated by laser ablation of graphite or petroleum coke and isolated by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, have been reacted with the sulfur-containing molecules H2S, C6H5SH and S8. The Cn- are unusually reactive with these molecules and generate anions of the types CnS-, CnS2-, HCnS-, CnH3S-, CnC6H5SH2-, and C4S3-. The structures of CnS-, CnS2- and HCnS- (n=4–9) have been investigated by density functional calculations; the lowest energy isomers have linear structures with the hetero atom(s) at the end(s) of the chain. C4S3-,0 are linear SC4S1S species with a single S1S bond. The thioformyl molecule HCS, recently proposed to be involved in the collision of the comet Shoemaker–Levy with Jupiter, is believed to be a product in the reaction of C9- with H2S.