EXPERIMENTAL-DETERMINATION OF THE ELECTRON-AFFINITIES OF NITROBENZENE, NITROTOLUENES, PENTAFLUORONITROBENZENE, AND ISOTOPIC NITROBENZENES AND AZULENES

The absolute electron affinities of nitrobenzene, m-, omicron, and p-nitrotoluene, pentafluoronitrobenzene, deuterated nitrobenzene, N-15-substituted nitrobenzene, azulene, and deuterated azulene have been determined by measuring the temperature dependence of the response of the electron capture detector (ECD). These are the first ECD determinations of the absolute electron affinities of these compounds and the only values of the electron affinities of the isotopically substituted compounds. The values for the substituted compounds do not differ from the unsubstituted compounds by more than the error. The best reproducibility for a single ECD determination is +/- 0.02 eV. The ECD electron affinities differ from the literature values by less than the errors in the determinations. The electron affinities are as follows (eV): C6H5NO2 = 1.0 +/- 0.02, C6D5NO2 = 1.0 +/- 0.03, C6H5(15)NO2 = 0.99 +/- 0.03, C6F5NO2 = 1.5 +/- 0.25, C10H8 = 0.69 +/- 0.04, C10D8 = 0.70 +/- 0.03, m-C7H7NO2 = 0.98 +/- 0.03, omicron-C7H7NO2 = 0.89 + 0.03, and p-C7H7NO2 = 0.94 +/- 0.03.