ATTACHMENT OF 2 ELECTRONS TO C60F48 - COULOMB BARRIERS IN DOUBLY-CHARGED ANIONS

The highly fluorinated chiral C-3h molecule C60F48 was observed to seq uentially attach two electrons in the gas phase to produce C60F482- an d C60F462- + F-2. The first electron affinity (EA) of C60F48 was measu red to be 4.06 + 0.3 eV. The first and second EA were calculated to be EA(1) = 5.07 eV and EA(2) = 2.27 eV for the more symmetric D-3d isome r. The dianion was found to be more stable with respect to electron de tachment than the singly charged anion. This remarkable stability of t he dianion is attributed to a potential barrier resulting from the lon g range Coulomb repulsion and short range electron-molecule binding.