Role of a short-lived σ* resonance in formic-acid O-H bond breaking

We review briefly the recent work on dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to formic acid. Using Feshbach resonance theory we present results calculating the forces on various atoms during resonance processes that can arise at different electron impact energies. The conclusion is that DEA to formic acid happens through a short-lived sigma* resonance with minimal involvement from pi-sigma symmetry breaking as suggested elsewhere. We conclude that rehybridization on a C atom caused by the pi-sigma mixing is too far from the O-H bond to detect its effect on the DEA cross section. A recent experimental confirmation is also reported.