Mass selective photodetachment photoelectron spectroscopy: Small transition metal (Fe, Ni) carbon hydrogen compounds

Photodetachment photoelectron spectra of chemical products, due to reactions between transition metals and acetylene, have been measured. These products existed as negative ions which have been mass selected in a time-of-flight analyser prior to laser photodetachment. The photoelectron spectra supply values for the electron affinity as well as energies for neutral excited electronic states and vibrations. The following complexes have been investigated: FeC₂H_x (x=0, 1, 2, 3), FeC₄H_x (x=2, 3), Fe₂H_x (x=1, 2), NiC₂H_x (x=1, 3) and NiC₄H₃. These isolated transition metal-containing complexes may correspond to surface bound intermediates during catalytic reactions of hydrocarbons on transition metal surfaces or deliver information about relevant transition metal carbon and transition metal hydrogen bonds.