Anion-yield spectroscopy using x rays is shown to be a selective probe of m
olecular core-level processes, providing unique experimental verification o
f shape resonances. For CO, partial anion and cation yields are presented f
or photon energies near the C K edge. The O- yield exhibits features above
threshold related only to doubly excited states, in contrast to cation yiel
ds which also exhibit pronounced structure due to the well-known sigma* sha
pe resonance. Because the shape resonance is completely suppressed for O-,
anion spectroscopy thus constitutes a highly selective probe, yielding info
rmation unobtainable with absorption or electron spectroscopy.