Theoretical study of the electron attachment dissociation of methyl halides and freon molecules: CF3Cl, CF2Cl2, CFCl3

A possible electron attachment dissociation process to destroy chlorofluoro carbons (CFCs) at low altitude is proposed. To study this we have used, in this paper, Wu model where the dissociation energy is obtained from the pot ential curves of the neutral and anionic molecules to investigate this poss ibility. The potential curves are calculated by quantum chemical methods. T hese dissociation energies have been determined for methyl halides for CHCl 3, CH2Cl2 and CH3Cl and for CFCl3, CF2Cl2 and CF3Cl molecules. It appears t hat molecules, in this series, with most fluorine atoms have the highest di ssociation energy. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.