Dissociative electron attachment in polyatomic molecules

Structurally related compounds cyclopentanone, gamma-butyrolactone and ethylene carbonate allow the study of the effect of the dipole moment and the energy of the lowest resonance on dissociative electron attachment. The number of fragments found at low energies (below 5 eV) increases with the number of oxygen atoms in the molecules, presumably because of the larger number of possible fragments with large electron affinity. Rearrangement of the atoms, prior to dissociation, is found in the fragmentation of ethylene carbonate at low energies. Three fragments are found in ethylene carbonate at energies even below the lowest shape resonance and are assigned to dissociation of vibrationally excited dipole bound anion formed upon electron attachment.