Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Temperature effects on the dissociative electron attachment to dichlorobenzene isomers
M Mahmoodi-Darian1, A Mauracher, A Aleem
1Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Leopold-Franzens Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Abstract:
Dissociative electron attachment to all three isomers of dichlorobenzene has been investigated in the electron energy range from 0 to 2 eV and in the gas temperature range from 391 to 696 K using a crossed electron-molecular beam apparatus with a new temperature-regulated effusive molecular beam source. In the case of the dissociative electron attachment channel Cl(-)/1,2-dichlorobenzene and Cl(-)/1,4-dichlorobenzene, strong enhancement of the negative ion production with the gas temperature at low electron energies has been observed. The low-energy peak increases dramatically when the gas temperature is raised from 391 to 696 K. Activation energies for dissociative electron attachment of (482 +/- 20) meV for 1,2-dichlorobenzene and (59 +/- 20) meV for 1,4-dichlorobenzene have been determined. For the resonance at (0.49 +/- 0.03) eV in 1,2-dichlorobenzene and (0.32 +/- 0.03) eV in 1,4-dichlorobenzene, no dependence of the cross sections on the gas temperature has been observed. In the case of the dissociative electron attachment to Cl(-)/1,3-dichlorobenzene, the cross section does not depend on the temperature in the electron energy range from 0 to 2 eV. Quantum chemical calculations of the reaction energies and of the potential energy curves involved in the dissociation of Cl(-) have been performed, together with an analysis of the thermo dynamical accessibility of the relevant vibrational modes. Possible reasons for the different temperature dependences of the isomers are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Stability of Substituted Cyclohexanes
The two chair conformations of cyclohexanes undergo rapid interconversion at room temperature. Both forms have identical energies and stabilities, each comprising equal amounts of the equilibrium mixture. Replacing a hydrogen atom with a functional group makes the two conformations energetically non-equivalent.
For example, in...
NMR Spectroscopy of Benzene Derivatives
Electrophilic 1,2- and 1,4-Addition of X2 to 1,3-Butadiene
Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Chlorination and Bromination of Benzene
Hydrolysis of Chlorobenzene to Phenol: Dow Process
Stability of Conjugated Dienes
A comparison of the enthalpies of hydrogenation of dienes reveals that conjugated dienes release less heat on hydrogenation, rendering them more stable than their nonconjugated analogs.

