Laser spectroscopy of radicals and carbenes

摘要

Photoelectron spectroscopy of isomeric C$-3$/H$-2$/ and C$-3$/H$- 3$/ molecules, produced by flash pyrolysis in a supersonic jet nozzle, is used to test a valence-bond picture for radical bond strengths and carbene singlet-triplet gaps. The good agreement suggests that ionization potential measurements can be used to determine these hard-to-obtain numbers.