Structural characterization of electron-induced proton transfer in the formic acid dimer anion, (HCOOH)2−, with vibrational and photoelectron spectroscopies

Electrophilicity of oxalic acid monomer is enhanced in the dimer by intermolecular proton transfer

We have analyzed the effect of excess electron attachment on the network of hydrogen bonds in the oxalic acid dimer (OA)₂. The most stable anionic structures may be viewed as complexes of a neutral hydrogenated moiety HOA˙ coordinated to an anionic deprotonated moiety (OA-H)^-. HOA˙ acts as a double proton donor and (OA-H)^- as a double proton acceptor. Thus the excess electron attachment drives intermolecular proton transfer. We have identified several cyclic hydrogen bonded structures of (OA)₂^-. Their stability has been analyzed in terms of the stability of the involved conformers, the energetic penalty for deformation of these conformers to the geometry of the dimer, and the two-body interaction energy between the deformed HOA˙ and (OA-H)^-. There are at least seven isomers of (OA)₂^- with stabilization energies in the range of 1.26-1.39 eV. These energies are dominated by attractive two-body interaction energies. The anions are vertically bound electronically by 3.0-3.4 eV and adiabatically bound by at least 1.6 eV. The computational predictions are consistent with the anion photoelectron spectrum of (OA)₂^-. The spectrum consists of a broad feature, with an onset of 2.5 eV and spanning to 4.3 eV. The electron vertical detachment energy (VDE) is assigned to be 3.3 eV.

Autodetachment dynamics of acrylonitrile anion revealed by two-dimensional electron impact spectra

Two-dimensional electron energy-loss spectra of acrylonitrile are presented in the incident energy range 0.095-0.9 eV, where the incoming electron is temporarily captured in the lowest π* orbital. The cross section is plotted as a function of the incident electron energy that determines which vibrational resonant anion state is populated, and of the electron energy loss, that shows into which final vibrational states each resonance decays. The striking result is that besides the expected horizontal (for given resonances) and vertical (for given final states) patterns of peaks, diagonal arrangements of peaks are observed. They reveal restrictive selectivity with respect to which vibrations are deexcited in the detachment process, with ν(4) (C ≡ N stretch) and ν(7) (C-H rocking) dominating. Surprisingly, all spectral features could be assigned to vibrational levels of the valence π* resonance, and none to dipole-bound vibrational Feshbach resonance, although the latter must also exist in this energy range.