The benzoyl ion. Thermochemistry and kinetic energy release
Abstract
Abstract The thermochemistry of benzoyl ion formation from a variety of sources has been examined by using the measured kinetic energy release for metastable ions to estimate the excess energy of the activated complex. A correlation is observed between this estimated excess energy and literature values of the heat of formation of the benzoyl ion. From this relationship and the observed correlation between the uncorrected heat of formation and the difference between the appearance potential of [C6H5CO] + and the ionization potential of the parent compound, the large range of reported values for ΔHf[C6H5CO] + is seen to be due, at least in part, to variation in the kinetic shift with the critical energy of the reaction. With the exception of the ion generated from trifluoroacetophenone and possibly that from benzaldehyde, the fragmenting [C7H5O] + ions are shown, from kinetic energy release data, to be structurally identical. The approach adopted here may have general merit in improving or testing the accuracy of thermochemical data based on appearance potential measurements.