DISSOCIATIVE ATTACHMENT IN SELECTED MONOCHLOROALKANES

The total cross sections for the dissociative attachment (DA) process are reported for eight normal chloroalkanes CnH2n+1Cl for n=2-9, two s econdary compounds 2-chloropropane and 2-chlorobutane, one tertiary co mpound t-butyl chloride, and three cyclic chloroalkanes c-CnH2n-1Cl fo r n=4-6, for electron energies below 4 eV. Using vertical attachment e nergies (VAEs) determined by electron transmission spectroscopy elsewh ere and in this work, we show that the resonance widths vary linearly with VAE in this series of compounds and that the peak DA cross sectio ns decline exponentially with increasing VAE. The small upper bound to the DA cross section reported previously for methyl chloride is discu ssed and is consistent with the measurements made on the remaining chl oroalkanes.