On the dissociation energies and bonding in NiCO(+) and TiCO(+)

Ab initio calculations on the NiCO(+) and TiCO(+) molecules are carried out using large Gaussian basis sets and extensive treatment of electron correlation. The NiCO(+) molecule is found to have a 2Sigma(+) ground state with a 2Delta state only 2.1 kcal/mole higher in energy. The Ni(+)-CO structure is about 11 and 28 kcal/mole more stable than the Ni(+)-OC and the T-shaped structures, respectively.