The assignment of dissociative electron attachment bands in compounds containing hydroxyl and amino groups

Abstract

Dissociative electron attachment (DEA) spectra were recorded for methanol, phenol, diethylamine, tetramethylhydrazine, piperazine, pyrrole and N,N-dimethylaniline. Comparison with He I photoelectron spectra permitted the assignment of virtually all DEA bands in the saturated compounds to core excited Feshbach resonances with double occupation of Rydberg-like orbitals and various Koopmans' states of the positive ion as a core. These resonances shift to lower energies with alkyl substitution, in contrast to the shape resonances, and are found at surprisingly low energies in the amines. The DEA spectra in the unsaturated compounds show no or only weak evidence for the Rydberg-type Feshbach resonances. It is proposed that DEA in saturated polyatomic molecules containing hydroxyl and amino groups is in general dominated by this type of resonance.