A study of dissociative electron attachment to CF 3SO 3CH 3 and CF 3SO 3C 2H 5 triflate esters using the FALP apparatus

Abstract

The rate coefficients, β, for dissociative electron attachment to the triflate esters CF 3SO 3CH 3 and CF 3SO 3C 2H 5, have been determined at 300, 385 and 475 K using the FALP apparatus. The β for both reactions are small (∼10 −10 cm 3 s −1) at 300 K, in contrast to the β for triflic acid, CF 3SO 3H, which is very large (∼ 10 −7 cm 3 s −1) at 300 K. In a parallel study, the reactions of F −, Cl −, Br − and I − with the two esters have been studied at 300 K using the SIFT technique. These ion/molecule reactions proceed at or near their collisional rates, again producing the triflate anion CF 3SO − 3, and reveal that the dissociative electron attachment reactions of these esters are exothermic.