Atomic and molecular electron affinities: Photoelectron experiments and theoretical computations

A review is given of the experimental determination of electron affinities (EAs). Also considered is the ability of computational chemistry methods to predict electron affinities. The development and present status of computational chemistry techniques for the prediction of atomic molecular EAs is also reviewed in a historical context. Through comparisons to experimental EAs and results from other theoretical methods, analysis of DFT EAs is given. In the context of other theoretical methods, the successes and failures of DFT EA predictions are detailed.