A 193 NM LASER PHOTOFRAGMENTATION TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS-SPECTROMETRIC STUDY OF CH3SSCH3, SSCH3, AND SCH3

We have measured the time-of-flight (TOF) spectra for SCH3, CH3, and SSCH3 formed in the photodissociation processes, CH3SSCH3 + hv(193 nm)→2SCH3 and CH 3 + SSCH3. The dissociation energies for the CH 3S-SCH3 and CH3SS-CH3 bonds determined at 0 K by the TOF measurements are 72.4±1.5 and 55.0±1.5 kcal/mol, in agreement with the literature values. The threshold value for the formation of S2 measured by the TOF spectrum for S2 is in accord with the thermochemical threshold for the process, SSCH3 + hv(193 nm) →S2 + CH3. The threshold energy determined from the TOF spectrum for S is found to be consistent with the thermochemical threshold for the photodissociation process, SCH3 + hv(193 nm) →S(1D) + CH3, an observation supporting that S atoms are not produced in the ground S( 3P) state in the 193 nm photodissociation of SCH3. This observation is rationalized by symmetry correlation arguments applied between the S + CH3 product and SCH3 states. © 1990 American Institute of Physics.