The covalently bound dimer ion HCNCNH+ and its neutral counterpart

Model chemistry calculations (CBS-QB3 and CBS-APNO methods) and tandem mass spectrometry based experiments indicate that dissociative ionization of 2-methoxy-s-triazine (consecutive losses of CH2O and HCN) yields the elusive covalently bound [H,C,N] dimer ion HCNCNH+, a species of interest in astrochemistry. Neutralization–Reionization Mass Spectrometry (NRMS) experiments indicate that its neutral counterpart, HCNCNH, is a kinetically stable molecule in the rarefied gas-phase.