Electron Affinities of Di- and Tetracyanoethylene and Cyanobenzenes Based on Measurements of Gas-Phase Electron-Transfer Equilibria

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00278a014

The electron affinities of tetracyanoethylene, trans-1,2-dicyanoethylene, and eleven substituted benzonitriles as well as two naphthonitriles were determined by measurement of the electron-transfer equilibria A^-+B=A+B^- with a pulsed electron high ion source pressure mass spectrometer.Rate constants for exothermic electron transfer involving the cyano compounds were found to be near unit collision efficiency.The EA (tetracyanoethylene)=3.17 eV obtained in the present work is considerably higher than the 2.3 eV photodetachment value of Palmer and Lyons.The electron affinities of benzene and benzonitrile substituted by CN, CHO, and NO2 increase in the given order, while the order for nitrobenzene is CHO, CN, NO2.This reversal of order is explained on the basis of a larger attenuation of the ?-withdrawing effect relative to the field effect of substituents when the electron density in the ?^* single-electron orbital is decreased.