PHOTOINITIATED CHARGE-TRANSFER AND DISSOCIATION IN MASS-SELECTED METALLOORGANIC COMPLEXES

Metalloorganic ion-molecule complexes of silver and aluminum ions with benzene and acetone molecules are prepared in a supersonic molecular beam with pulsed laser vaporization. Complexes are mass-selected in a reflectron time-of-flight spectrometer and excited with ultraviolet laser radiation in the 385-266-nm region. Aluminum complexes dissociate to produce the isolated metal ion and a neutral organic, while silver complexes undergo dissociative charge transfer, yielding charged organic fragments and neutral metal atoms. The mechanism and energetics of this new photochemistry are discussed. © 1990 American Chemical Society.