Photodissociation of spatially aligned acetaldehyde cations.
Photofragment translational energy and angular distributions are reported for the photodissociation of acetaldehyde cations in the wavelength range 354-363 nm obtained using the DC slice ion imaging technique. Vibrationally selected parent ions were produced by 2+1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) via the 3s<--n Rydberg transition, with photodissociation resulting from absorption of a fourth additional photon. Three product channels were observed: HCO+, CH3CO+, and CH4+. The angular distributions reveal that all product channels have a predominantly parallel recoil anisotropy although the lower beta2 parameter of CH3CO+ indicates the concomitant presence of a perpendicular component. Furthermore, the distinct angular distribution of the CH3CO+ fragments shows a large value of the higher order Legendre polynomial term, providing evidence that acetaldehyde cations are spatially aligned during the ionization process.
Lee
Suk Kyoung
SK
Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA.
Silva
Ruchira
R
Kim
Myung Hwa
MH
Shen
Lei
L
Suits
Arthur G
AG