Photoelectron Spectroscopy of peri-Amino Naphthalenes

The He I photoelectron spectra of peri-amino and dimethylamino naphthalenes are presented. The differences in the ionization energies of the π-bands are interpreted by separation of the perturbation of the amino substituent into an inductive destabilization and conjugative stabilization. This affords the assignment of the photoelectron bands of ionization energies below 11 eV and an estimation of the dihedral angle in the peri-dimethylamino derivatives. The data on the peri-amino naphthalenes indicate some angular distortion in contrast to 2-aminonaphthalene.