The binding energy of VXe+

The resonant photodissociation spectrum of gas-phase VXe+ is presented. A single prominent electronic transition with a long upper state vibrational progression is observed in the visible. Analysis of the 51V129Xe+ data gives T00, ω′e, and ωeχ′e as 15613, 107.9 and 0.95 cm−1, respectively. The diabatic dissociation energy of the upper state, D′0, corresponding to a 3d34s configuration on the metal ion, is found to be 3220 ± 50 cm−1. This is significantly less than the adiabatic dissociation energy of the ground state, D″0, corresponding to a 3d4 configuration of the metal, at 5240 ± 50 cm−1. These observations are compared with other vanadium-ligand ion complexes.