A STUDY OF THE ASTRONOMICALLY IMPORTANT CYCLOPROPENYL SYSTEM BY NEUTRALIZED ION-BEAM TECHNIQUES

The cyclopropenyl cation and radical, proposed procursors of interstellar cyclopropenylidene, C3H2, have been studied using neutralized ion beam techniques. The study indicates the presence of low-lying stable and dissociative forms for the C3H3 radical. The possible origins of these states are discussed. The relative H and D atom loss rates of the monodeuterated radical, C3H2D, are investigated both by collisional ionization and by dissociative excitation. In neither case is evidence found to indicate the preferential loss of H atoms from the radical. Fragmentation energies for H (D) loss from the dissociative state of C3H3 (C3D3) have been measured. © 1990.