Study of low-energy electron-induced dissociation of 1-propanol

The fragmentation of 1-propanol resulting from dissociative electron attachment has been explored across an energy range of 3.5-16 eV. Four distinct ion species are identified: H-, O-, OH-, and C3H7O-. The OH- ion exhibited a prominent peak near 8.7 eV, along with a small hump near 5.6 eV. Complementary channels led to the formation of the H- and C3H7O- ions. Both of these two ions exhibit a sharp peak near 6 eV and broad overlapping resonances between 7 and 12 eV. The observed ion yields of distinct dissociation fragments in this study, when compared with those from previously studied alcohols, suggest site-specific fragmentation of alcohols during dissociative electron attachment. To gain a deeper understanding of the dissociation pathways, density functional theory calculations were conducted, revealing the threshold energies for each channel. These threshold energies aligned well with the experimental uncertainties.