The Dissociation Energy of the Benzene–Argon van der Waals Complex Determined by Velocity Map Imaging

Abstract

The technique of velocity map imaging has been used to determine the dissociation energy of the C₆H₆⁺–Ar van der Waals complex. From the change in the ionization energy between the complex and free benzene and the spectroscopic shift of the S₁←S₀ transition, the dissociation energies in the S₀ and S₁ states of the neutral complex were determined, being 314 ± 7 and 335 ± 7 cm⁻¹ for the S₀ and S₁ states of the neutral complex, respectively, and 486 ± 5 cm⁻¹ for the cation ground (D₀) state.