Metastable dissociation of doubly charged ions produced from toluene: Kinetic energy release upon charge separation and H2 elimination

Abstract: Doubly charged ions produced by electron impact ionization of toluene undergo metastable decomposition. We have determined decay channels for and the average kinetic energy release (KER) by applying the MIKE scan technique. We observe several reactions that have not been reported previously, including H2 elimination from . The KER distribution for H2 loss shows no evidence for a reverse barrier. The average KER is <0.1 eV; it exhibits a distinct time dependence and isotope effect. On the other hand, some charge separation reactions reported previously in the literature are likely due to isotopic interference. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]