Crossed-beam studies of energy and angular distributions of organometallic reactions: decarbonylation of acetaldehyde by Fe+ and Cr+

The energetics and dynamics of the reactions of gas-phase transition-metal ions with organic molecules are topics of active research and speculation at present. In the present work, the authors report the first crossed-beam studies of gas-phase transition-metal ion chemistry, demonstrating that product kinetic energy and angular distributions probe the potential energy surface topology of simple carbon-carbon bond cleavage reactions. The studies yield information on the lifetimes and stabilities of key intermediates and assess the partitioning of energy in these species. The authors present results on the direct decarbonylation of acetaldehyde by Fe+ and Cr+