Photoelectron Photoion Coincidence Research Articles

Furfural: The Unimolecular Dissociative Photoionization Mechanism of the Simplest Furanic Aldehyde.

The unimolecular dissociation reactions of energy-selected furfural cations have been studied by imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy at the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) beamline of the Swiss Light Source. In the photon energy range of 10.9-14.5 eV, furfural ions decay by numerous fragmentation channels. Modeling the breakdown diagram yielded the 0 K appearance energies of 10.95 ± 0.10, 11.16, and 12.03 eV for the c-C4H3O-CO+ (m/z = 95), c-C4H4O+ (m/z = 68), and c-C3H3+ (m/z = 39) fragment ions, respectively, formed by parallel dissociation channels. An internal conversion from the A″ to the A' electronic state via a conical intersection takes place along the reaction coordinate in the case of the H-loss channel (c-C4H3O-CO+ formation). Quantum chemical calculations and experimental results confirmed a fast conversion to the A' state and that the rate-determining step is a tight transition state on the potential energy surface. Appearance energies were also derived for the sequential dissociation products from the furan cation, c-C4H4O+, for the formation of CH2CO+ (m/z = 42), C3H4+ (m/z = 40), and CHO+ (m/z = 29) at 12.81, 12.80, and 13.34 eV, respectively. Statistical rate theory modeling of the breakdown diagram can also be used to predict the fractional ion abundances and thermal shifts in mass spectrometric pyrolysis studies to help assigning the m/z channels either to ionization of the neutrals or to dissociative ionization processes, with potential use for combustion diagnostics. The cationic geometry optimizations yielded functional-dependent spurious DFT minima and a deviating planar MP2 optimized geometry, which are briefly discussed.

Probing Phosphorus Nitride (P≡N) and Other Elusive Species Formed upon Pyrolysis of Dimethyl Phosphoramidate.

The thermal behavior of organophosphorus compounds is intricate and poorly understood but crucial for understanding gas-phase flame inhibition, syntheses of thermally active phosphorus-based reactive precursors, catalytic combustion, incineration of toxic nerve gases, and astrochemistry. In this work, the pyrolysis of dimethyl phosphoramidate was investigated using photoion photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy in combination with vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation. This technique enables isomer-selective detection of reactive intermediates, which are crucial in the understanding of the decomposition process. Combined with quantum chemical calculations, the experimental results permit the formulation of a comprehensive pyrolysis reaction pathway for dimethyl phosphoramidate, consisting of several reactive phosphorus species on four possible decomposition pathways. Compared to the decomposition of dimethyl methyl phosphonate, which leads exclusively to the formation of PO radicals, substitution of the methyl with an amino group most notably yields phosphorus nitride (P≡N). This mostly favored reaction pathway involves the subsequent loss of methanol and formaldehyde to yield three PONH2 tautomers, which eliminate water to generate P≡N. The thermally induced production of PN species and its possible role in flame inhibition has not previously been reported. In addition, the adiabatic ionization energy of O=P(OCH3 )2 NH2 was determined to be 9.79±0.02 eV.

Dissociative Photoionization of Dimethyl Carbonate: The More It Is Cut, the Bigger the Fragment Ion.

The dissociation of internal energy selected dimethyl carbonate (DMC) cations was studied by imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy (iPEPICO) in the 10.3-12.5 eV photon energy range. Vibrational fine structure is observed in the ground state band of the threshold photoelectron spectrum up to the dissociation threshold, and Franck-Condon simulations identify the O-C-O bend mode, in particular in combination with the C═O stretch mode, to be active. The DMC ionization energy was determined to be 10.47 ± 0.01 eV. The first dissociative photoionization product, CH2OH+, dominates the breakdown diagram from 11.0 to 11.8 eV and is also the lightest fragment ion at m/z = 31. Statistical modeling of the PEPICO data yields a 0 K appearance energy of E0 = 11.14 ± 0.01 eV. At higher photon energies, parallel dissociation channels are observed, leading to the daughter ions C2H6O2+, probably OHCH2CH2OH+ (m/z = 62, E0 = 11.16 eV), CH3CHOH+ (m/z = 45, E0 = 11.46 eV), and CH3OCO+ (m/z = 59, E0 = 11.47 eV). The m/z = 62 ethylene glycol ion may lose a CHO fragment and yield CH3OH2+ (m/z = 33) in a sequential dissociation at E0 = 11.54 ± 0.03 eV. Reaction path calculations explain the observed dissociation processes, except for the formation of the ethylene glycol cation. Composite method calculations of isodesmic and isomerization reaction energies are used to obtain the enthalpy of formation of dimethyl carbonate at ΔfHo0K(DMC(g)) = -548.3 ± 1.5 kJ mol-1. This puts the heat of formation of the cation at ΔfHo0K(DMC+(g)) = 461.9 ± 1.8 kJ mol-1.

Uncovering Highly-Excited State Mixing in Acetone Using Ultrafast VUV Pulses and Coincidence Imaging Techniques.

Understanding the ultrafast dynamics of highly excited electronic states of small molecules is critical for a better understanding of atmospheric and astrophysical processes, as well as for designing coherent control strategies for manipulating chemical dynamics. In highly excited states, nonadiabatic coupling, electron-electron interactions, and the high density of states govern dynamics. However, these states are computationally and experimentally challenging to access. Fortunately, new sources of ultrafast vacuum ultraviolet pulses, in combination with electron-ion coincidence spectroscopies, provide new tools to unravel the complex electronic landscape. Here we report time-resolved photoelectron-photoion coincidence experiments using 8 eV pump photons to study the highly excited states of acetone. We uncover for the first time direct evidence that the resulting excited state consists of a mixture of both ny → 3p and π → π* character, which decays with a time constant of 330 fs. In the future, this approach can inform models of VUV photochemistry and aid in designing coherent control strategies for manipulating chemical reactions.

Photoabsorption and photoionization cross sections for formaldehyde in the vacuum-ultraviolet energy range

We report a theoretical-experimental investigation on the interaction of vacuum-ultraviolet radiation with formaldehyde (H2CO) in the gas phase. Experimentally, the absolute photoabsorption cross sections and the photoionization quantum yields were measured in the (11.0–21.5) eV range using the double-ion chamber technique. Also, the absolute photoionization and neutral-decay cross sections were derived from these data. In addition, in the same energy region, the dissociation pattern was obtained with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer using the photoelectron-photoion coincidence technique, and the absolute photoionization cross sections were derived for each ionic fragment observed. Moreover, theoretical photoionization cross sections were calculated for the ionization of the four outermost molecular valence orbitals (2b2, 1b1, 5a1, and 1b2) from the threshold to 35 eV. The calculations were performed using the iterative Schwinger variational method to solve the Lippmann-Schwinger equation in the exact static-exchange level of approximation. In general, there is a good agreement between our experimental and previous data reported in the literature. Our theoretical results show a fair qualitative agreement with the experimental data and with previous theoretical results. Above 20 eV, a better quantitative agreement with the experimental data is also observed.

A photoionization study of 2-propyl and t-butyl radicals

We investigate the photoionization of the alkyl radicals 2-propyl (C3H7), termed also isopropyl, and t-butyl (C4H9). Both species were generated by flash pyrolysis from suitable precursors and ionized using vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation. Photoelectron-photoion coincidence was applied to record photoion mass-selected threshold photoelectron spectra. Due to the large geometry change upon ionization, it is difficult to extract accurate ionization energies from the spectra. For 2-propyl, we observe vibrational bands 135meV apart. By extrapolating this progression to lower energies, an ionization energy (IE) of 7.45±0.03eV could be determined, in good agreement with ab initio computations. A similar 93meV progression yields an IE of 6.80eV in t-butyl, which, although higher than previously reported photoelectron spectroscopy results, is probably still too low in the light of thermochemical cycle and computational results. The conformation of the methyl group changes upon ionization, and the neutral minima correspond to transition states in the cation. Thus, the 000 transition is not expected to exhibit measurable intensity, and the nuclear wave function overlap of the neutral with the cationic ground state is enhanced if the methyl rotors are torsionally excited. This significant vibrational population of hot neutrals leads to an onset of the spectrum at apparently lower energies.

Channel-specific photoelectron angular distribution in laboratory and molecular frames for dissociative ionization of methanol in intense ultraviolet laser fields

We investigate dissociative ionization of CH3OH in an intense laser field (398nm, 76fs, 8.9×1012W/cm2) by photoelectron-photoion coincidence momentum imaging. It is revealed from the analysis of the channel-specific photoelectron angular distributions that CH3OH is decomposed into CH2OH++H after the four-photon ionization to the vibrationally highly excited states of the electronic ground state of CH3OH+ and into CH3++OH after the five-photon ionization to the second electronically excited state of CH3OH+, and that these two channels are also opened after CH3OH+, prepared by the four-photon ionization, is photoexcited further into the electronically excited states.

Advances in threshold photoelectron spectroscopy (TPES) and threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence (TPEPICO).

The history and evolution of molecular threshold photoelectron spectroscopy and threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy (TPEPICO) over the last fifty years are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on instrumentation and the extraction of dynamical information about energy selected ion dissociation, not on the detailed spectroscopy of certain molecules. Three important advances have expanded greatly the power of the technique, and permitted its implementation on modern synchrotron radiation beamlines. The use of velocity focusing of threshold electrons onto an imaging detector in the 1990s simultaneously improved the sensitivity and electron energy resolution, and also facilitated the subtraction of hot electron background in both threshold electron spectroscopy and TPEPICO studies. The development of multi-start multi-stop collection detectors for both electrons and ions in the 2000s permitted the use of the full intensity of modern synchrotron radiation thereby greatly improving the signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, recent developments involving imaging electrons in a range of energies as well as ions onto separate position-sensitive detectors has further improved the collection sensitivity so that low density samples found in a variety of studies can be investigated. As a result, photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy is now well positioned to address a range of challenging problems that include the quantitative determination of compositions of isomer mixtures, and the detection and spectroscopy of free radicals produced in pyrolysis or discharge sources as well as in combustion studies.

Spectral dependence of photoemission in multiphoton ionization of NO2 by femtosecond pulses in the 375-430 nm range.

We investigate the multiphoton ionization of NO2 using tunable (430-375 nm) femtosecond pulses and photoelectron-photoion coincidence momentum spectroscopy. In order to understand the complex electronic and nuclear photodynamics at play following absorption of three to five photons, we also report extended photoionization calculations using correlated targets and coupled channels. Exploring the multiphoton dissociative ionization (MPDI) and multiphoton ionization (MPI) processes over such a broad energy range enables us to lend further support to our work carried out around 400 nm of a femtosecond laser [S. Marggi Poullain et al., J. Phys. B: At., Mol. Opt. Phys., 2014, 47, 124024]. Two excitation energy regions are identified and discussed in terms of the proposed reaction pathways, highlighting the significant role of Rydberg states, such as the [R*(6a1)-1, 3pσ] Rydberg state, in the NO2 multiphoton excitation and photoionization. These new results support our previous assumption that different bent and linear geometries of the NO2+(X1Σg) ionic state contribute to the MPDI and MPI, consistent with the reported calculations which reveal an important vibronic coupling characterizing the photoemission. Remarkably, the strong anisotropy of the recoil frame photoelectron angular distribution (RFPAD) previously observed at 400 nm appears as a fingerprint across the whole explored photon energy range.

Communication: "Position" does matter: The photofragmentation of the nitroimidazole isomers.

A combined experimental and theoretical approach has been used to disentangle the fundamental mechanisms of the fragmentation of the three isomers of nitroimidazole induced by vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) radiation, namely, 4-, 5-, and 2-nitroimidazole. The results of mass spectrometry as well as photoelectron-photoion coincidence spectroscopy display striking differences in the radiation-induced decomposition of the different nitroimidazole radical cations. Based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, a model is proposed which fully explains such differences, and reveals the subtle fragmentation mechanisms leading to the release of neutral species like NO, CO, and HCN. Such species have a profound impact in biological media and may play a fundamental role in radiosensitising mechanisms during radiotherapy.

Dissociative Photoionization of 1-Halogenated Silacyclohexanes: Silicon Traps the Halogen.

The threshold photoelectron spectra and threshold photoionization mass spectra of 1-halogenated-1-silacyclohexanes, for the halogens X = F, Cl, Br, and I, have been obtained using synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet radiation and photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy. As confirmed by a similar ionization onset and density functional theory molecular orbitals, the ionization to the ground state is dominated by electron removal from the silacyclohexane ring for X = F, Cl, and Br, and from the halogen lone pair for X = I. The breakdown diagrams show that the dissociative photoionization mechanism is also different for X = I. Whereas the parent ions decay by ethylene loss for X = F to Br in the low-energy regime, the iodine atom is lost for X = I. The first step is followed by a sequential ethylene loss at higher internal energies in each of the compounds. It is argued that the tendency of silicon to lower bond angles stabilizes the complex cation in which C2H4 is η2-coordinated to it, and which precedes ethylene loss. Together with the relatively strong silicon-halogen bonds and the increased inductive effect of the silacyclohexane ring in stabilizing the cation, this explains the main differences observed in the fragmentation of the halogenated silacyclohexane and halogenated cyclohexane ions. The breakdown diagrams have been modeled taking into account slow dissociations at threshold and the resulting kinetic shift. The 0 K appearance energies have been obtained to within 0.08 eV for the ethylene loss for X = F to Br (10.56, 10.51, and 10.51 eV, respectively), the iodine atom loss for X = I (10.11 eV), the sequential ethylene loss for X = F to I (12.29, 12.01, 11.94, and 11.86 eV, respectively), and the minor channels of H loss for X = F (10.56 eV) and propylene loss in X = Cl (also at 10.56 eV). The appearance energies for the major channels likely correspond to the dissociative photoionization reaction energy.

Breaking through the false coincidence barrier in electron-ion coincidence experiments.

Photoelectron Photoion Coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy holds the promise of a universal, isomer-selective, and sensitive analytical technique for time-resolved quantitative analysis of bimolecular chemical reactions. Unfortunately, its low dynamic range of ∼103 has largely precluded its use for this purpose, where a dynamic range of at least 105 is generally required. This limitation is due to the false coincidence background common to all coincidence experiments, especially at high count rates. Electron/ion pairs emanating from separate ionization events but arriving within the ion time of flight (TOF) range of interest constitute the false coincidence background. Although this background has uniform intensity at every m/z value, the Poisson scatter in the false coincidence background obscures small signals. In this paper, temporal ion deflection coupled with a position-sensitive ion detector enables suppression of the false coincidence background, increasing the dynamic range in the PEPICO TOF mass spectrum by 2-3 orders of magnitude. The ions experience a time-dependent electric deflection field at a well-defined fraction of their time of flight. This deflection defines an m/z- and ionization-time dependent ion impact position for true coincidences, whereas false coincidences appear randomly outside this region and can be efficiently suppressed. When cold argon clusters are ionized, false coincidence suppression allows us to observe species up to Ar9+, whereas Ar4+ is the largest observable cluster under traditional operation. This advance provides mass-selected photoelectron spectra for fast, high sensitivity quantitative analysis of reacting systems.

Synchrotron threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy of radicals produced in a pyrolysis source: The methyl radical

We present here a flash pyrolysis source coupled with a threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence (TPEPICO) spectrometer and vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation to investigate the spectroscopy and photochemistry of free radicals. The radicals are produced from pyrolysis in a heated silicon carbide tube, and the TPEPICO scheme provides a strategy to obtain pure spectra of the radicals without contamination from other byproducts. As a representative example, the methyl radical was studied, and its threshold photoelectron spectrum shows a series of umbrella vibrational transitions. The adiabatic ionization energy of the methyl radical was determined to be 9.84±0.01eV.

Disentangling Multichannel Photodissociation Dynamics in Acetone by Time-Resolved Photoelectron-Photoion Coincidence Spectroscopy.

For the investigation of photoinduced dynamics in molecules with time-resolved pump-probe photoionization spectroscopy, it is essential to obtain unequivocal information about the fragmentation behavior induced by the laser pulses. We present time-resolved photoelectron-photoion coincidence (PEPICO) experiments to investigate the excited-state dynamics of isolated acetone molecules triggered by two-photon (269 nm) excitation. In the complex situation of different relaxation pathways, we unambiguously identify three distinct pump-probe ionization channels. The high selectivity of PEPICO detection allows us to observe the fragmentation behavior and to follow the time evolution of each channel separately. For channels leading to fragment ions, we quantitatively obtain the fragment-to-parent branching ratio and are able to determine experimentally whether dissociation occurs in the neutral molecule or in the parent ion. These results highlight the importance of coincidence detection for the interpretation of time-resolved photochemical relaxation and dissociation studies if multiple pathways are present.

Photofragmentation of Serine Following C 1s Core Ionization-Comparison with Cysteine.

Photofragmentation pathways of doubly ionized serine molecules are investigated and compared with those of cysteine. The main motivation for the study is to investigate if an atomic substitution within the same group of elements, namely, replacing sulfur (in cysteine) with oxygen (in serine), causes a major change in the C 1s core ionization induced dissociation pattern in the molecules of an otherwise identical structure. The results show that in serine there is a single completely dominant fragmentation channel producing the (CNH2–4+, COH1–3+) pairs, whereas in cysteine there are also many other fragmentation channels. The employed experimental method was the photoelectron–photoion–photoion coincidence (PEPIPICO) technique combined with synchrotron radiation tuned to ionize desired core levels. Molecular dynamics calculations were also carried out in order to extract information on the fragmentation and the neutral final fragments.

Insights in m-xylene decomposition under fuel-rich conditions by imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy

A fuel-rich (Φ=1.79) m-xylene flame (7.3% m-C8H10, 42.7% O2, 50.0% Ar) at low-pressure (40mbar) was investigated with focus on the reactive fuel radicals (C8H9) and the first decomposition steps leading to C8H8 isomers. The results show that an isomerization of the m-xylyl radical to o- and p-xylyl must take place to explain the observed intermediates in agreement with pyrolysis experiments. Important higher polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) relevant to soot formation were also identified. All Measurements were performed with a molecular-beam mass spectrometry (MBMS) setup at the Swiss Light Source (SLS), where single-photon ionization with VUV radiation offers soft ionization of the sampled species. Isomer-selective detection with unprecedented resolution is achieved by a combination of time-of-flight mass spectrometry and imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence (iPEPICO) spectroscopy. In principle, species can be identified by comparison of measured ionization efficiency (PIE) curves with known or calculated ionization energies of expected species. For convoluted signals of several species, this procedure works well for the isomer with the lowest ionization energy. Changes in the slopes of the ionization efficiency curve do not necessarily correlate with ionization thresholds of other isomers and the assignment of higher thresholds can become difficult. PEPICO spectrometry, which detects the electrons that are produced in the ionization process in coincidence with the ions, enables the measurement of mass-selected threshold photoelectron spectra (ms-TPES). These spectra improve the detection capability of isomers because vibrational transitions from the neutral into ionic states can be observed and used as a fingerprint of a specific molecule. The obtained ms-TPES are compared with reference spectra from the literature or Franck–Condon simulations. Quantification of the major species as well as several intermediate species for this fuel-rich m-xylene flame yields a data set for model validation and experimental results are compared with five kinetic reaction models from the literature.

Rotamers and Migration: Investigating the Dissociative Photoionization of Ethylenediamine.

The unimolecular dissociation of energy-selected ethylenediamine cations was studied by threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy (TPEPICO) in the photon energy range of 8.60-12.50 eV. Modeling the breakdown diagram and time-of-flight distributions with rigid activated complex RRKM theory yielded 0 K appearance energies for eight dissociation channels, leading to NH2CHCH2(+)(•) at 9.120 ± 0.010 eV, CH3C(NH2)2(+) at 9.200 ± 0.012 eV, NH2CHCH3(+) at 9.34 ± 0.08 eV, CH2NH2(+) at 9.449 ± 0.025 eV, CH2NH3(+) at 9.8 ± 0.1 eV, c-C2H4NH2(+) at 10.1 ± 0.1 eV, CH3NHCHCH2(+) at 10.2 ± 0.1 eV, and the reappearance of CH2NH2(+) at 10.2 ± 0.1 eV. The CBS-QB3-calculated pathways highlighted the influence of intramolecular hydrogen attractions on the dissociation processes, presenting novel isomers and low-energy van der Waals intermediates that led to fragments in good agreement with experimental results. While most of the dissociation channels take place through reverse barriers, the 0 K heat of formation of (•)CH2NH2 was determined to be 147.6 ± 3.7 kJ mol(-1), in excellent agreement with literature, and the 0 K heat of formation of CH2NH3(+) at 844 ± 10 kJ mol(-1) is the first experimentally measured value available and is in good agreement with theory.

Dissociative Ionization Mechanism and Appearance Energies in Adipic Acid Revealed by Imaging Photoelectron Photoion Coincidence, Selective Deuteration, and Calculations.

Adipic acid, a model compound for oxygenated organic aerosol, has been studied at the VUV beamline of the Swiss Light Source. Internal energy selected cations were prepared by threshold photoionization using vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation and imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy (iPEPICO). The threshold photoelectron spectrum yields a vertical ionization energy (IE) of 10.5 eV, significantly above the calculated adiabatic IE of 8.6 eV. The cationic minimum is accessible after vertical ionization by H-transfer from one of the γ-carbons to a carbonyl oxygen and is sufficiently energetic to decay by water loss at the ionization onset. The slope of the breakdown curves, quantum chemical calculations, and selective deuteration of the carboxylic hydrogens establish the dissociative photoionization mechanism. After ionization, one γ-methylene hydrogen and the two carboxylic hydrogens are randomized prior to H2O loss. On the basis of the deuteration degree in the H2O + CO-loss product at higher energies, a direct water-loss channel without complete randomization also exists. The breakdown diagram and center of gravity of the H2O + CO-loss peak were modeled to obtain 0 K appearance energies of 10.77, 10.32, and 11.53 eV for H2O + CO loss, CH2COOH loss, and H2O + CH2COOH loss from adipic acid. These agree well with the CBS-QB3 calculated values of 10.68, 10.45, and 11.57 eV, respectively, which shows that threshold photoionization can yield energetics data as long as the dissociation is statistical, even when the parent ion cannot be observed. The results can be used as a starting point for a deeper understanding of the ionization and low-energy fragmentation of organic aerosol components.

Photoionisation study of Xe.CF4 and Kr.CF4 van-der-Waals molecules

We report on photoionization studies of Xe.CF4 and Kr.CF4 van-der-Waals complexes produced in a supersonic expansion and detected using synchrotron radiation and photoelectron-photoion coincidence techniques. The ionization potential of CF4 is larger than those of the Xe and Kr atoms and the ground state of the Rg.CF4 (+) ion correlates with Rg(+) ((2)P3/2) + CF4. The onset of the Rg.CF4 (+) signals was found to be only ∼0.2 eV below the Rg ionization potential. In agreement with experiment, complementary ab initio calculations show that vertical transitions originating from the potential minimum of the ground state of Rg.CF4 terminate at a part of the potential energy surfaces of Rg.CF4 (+), which are approximately 0.05 eV below the Rg(+) ((2)P3/2) + CF4 dissociation limit. In contrast to the neutral complexes, which are most stable in the face geometry, for the Rg.CF4 (+) ions, the calculations show that the minimum of the potential energy surface is in the vertex geometry. Experiments which have been performed only with Xe.CF4 revealed no Xe.CF4 (+) signal above the first ionization threshold of Xe, suggesting that the Rg.CF4 (+) ions are not stable above the first dissociation limit.

Ionization and Fragmentation of DCOOD Induced by Synchrotron Radiation at the Oxygen 1s Edge: The Role of Dimer Formation.

The ionization and photofragmentation of molecules in the core region has been widely investigated for monomers and dimers of organic molecules in the gas phase. In this study, we used synchrotron radiation to excite electrons of the oxygen K-edge in an effusive molecular beam of doubly deuterated formic acid. We used time-of-flight mass spectrometry and employed the spectroscopic techniques photoelectron-photoion coincidence and photoelectron photoion-photoion coincidence to obtain spectra of single and double coincidences at different pressures. Our results indicate the presence of ions and ion pairs that have charge-to-mass ratio higher than the monomer DCOOD, as the (DCOOD)·D(+), and pairs (DCO(+), DCO(+)) and (CO(+), DCO(+)). Comparing the spectra obtained for different pressures we can ascertain that these ions are formed by the fragmentation of DCOOD dimers.