Reactivity of collisionally activated dichlorocarbene dications studied by tandem mass spectrometry

The dissociation mechanisms of dichlorocarbene dications following collisional activation have been investigated via tandem mass spectrometric techniques and semi-empirical calculations. Three channels appear to be significant: {fx1019-1} The second channel becomes dominant at high internal energy. Production of ground state fragments (channel 1) involves a transition driven by spin—orbit coupling from the CCl ₂ ²⁺ $CCl_2^2 \tilde X^1 \Sigma _g^ + $ state to the CCl ₂ ^2? ā³Σ _u ^? state en route to the fragments. The dissociation barrier for the production of ground state fragments from the ground electronic state of CCl ₂ ²⁺ via the spin—orbit-induced transition is equal to 420 kJ mol^?1. The dissociation pathway that corresponds to channel 3 includes a first isomerization step from the linear Cl-C-Cl²⁺ structure to a bent Cl-Cl-C²⁺ connectivity. The calculated isomerization barrier amounts to 550 kJ mol^?1. The calculated reverse activation barriers are compatible with the measured kinetic energy released on the fragments.