Anion photoelectron spectroscopy of halide complexes and clusters

[Truncated] Ion-molecule clusters comprising a halide anion 'core' solvated by neutral molecules in the gas phase are characterised using anion photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio computational techniques. These clusters are of interest in studying the e ects of di erent solvent molecules on small anion cores, as transition states in reactions and are of atmospheric relevance. Many of these have not previously been investigated using the techniques employed in this work, as such the results presented here are novel.

The mass and photoelectron spectra obtained for this dissertation include Cl^-...(N₂)n, Br^-...(N₂)n, I^-...(N2)n, Br^-...(N₂O)_n, Cl^-...(NO)_n, Br^-...(NO)_n and I^-...(NO)_n. The spectra were recorded using a home-built time-of- ight photoelectron spectrometer coupled to a time-of- ight mass spectrometer. Although the photoelectron spectra are of low resolution, the stabilisation energies and electron anities for these clusters of interest have been extracted. These are compared to analogous studies from the literature, such as the uoride clusters. The limits for the rst solvation shell of each of the clusters were determined to be larger than the sizes of the clusters under investigation here.