Electronic states of thiophenyl and furanyl radicals and dissociation energy of thiophene via photoelectron imaging of negative ions

We report photoelectron images and spectra of deprotonated thiophene, C4H3S-, obtained at 266, 355, and 390 nm. Photodetachment of the a isomer of the anion is observed, and the photoelectron bands are assigned to the ground X(2)A' (sigma) and excited A(2)A '' and B(2)A '' (pi) states of the thiophenyl radical. The photoelectron angular distributions are consistent with photodetachment from the respective in-plane (sigma) and out-of-plane (pi(*)) orbitals. The adiabatic electron affinity of alpha-(C4H3S)-C-center dot is determined to be 2.05 +/- 0.08 eV, while the B(2)A '' term energy is estimated at 1.6 +/- 0.1 eV. Using the measured electron affinity and the electron affinity/acidity thermodynamic cycle, the C-H-alpha bond dissociation energy of thiophene is calculated as DH298(H-alpha-C4H3S) = 115 +/- 3 kcal/mol. Comparison of this value to other, previously reported C-H bond dissociation energies, in particular for benzene and furan, sheds light of the relative thermodynamic stabilities of the corresponding radicals. In addition, the 266 nm photoelectron image and spectrum of the furanide anion, C4H3O-, reveal a previously unobserved vibrationally resolved band, assigned to the B(2)A '' excited state of the furanyl radical, (C4H3O)-C-center dot. The observed band origin corresponds to a 2.53 +/- 0.01 eV B(2)A '' term energy, while the resolved vibrational progression (853 +/- 42 cm(-1)) is assigned to an in-plane ring mode of alpha-(C4H3O)-C-center dot (B(2)A ''). (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3593275]