PHOTODISSOCIATION OF ACRYLONITRILE CLUSTER ANIONS

Acrylonitrile (AN: CH2=CHCN) cluster anions, (AN)(n)(-) (2 less than o r equal to n less than or equal to 9), were irradiated with a laser at photon energies of 1.17 and 2.33 eV, and mass spectra of fragment ani ons were observed by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The trimer an d the hexamer anions, (AN)(3)(-) and (AN)(6)(-), were found to be prod uced dominantly by the photodissociation. The results revealed, in com parison with our previous results on the photoelectron spectra and col lision-induced dissociation of AN cluster anions, that the parent anio n (AN)(n)(-) (n greater than or equal to 3) consists of a polymerized cyclic trimer anion (AN)(3)(-), a polymerized cyclic neutral trimer un it (AN)(3) and AN molecule(s).