Characterization of the anionic intracluster polymerization reaction product of 2-chloroacrylonitrile trimers by photoelectron spectroscopy

Photoelectron spectra are presented for the [(CAN)3-3HCl]− product formed by electron attachment onto clusters of 2-chloroacrylonitrile (CAN; CH2CClCN), and for the molecular anion of 1,3,5-tricyanobenzene (TCB; C6H3(CN)3). The spectra show that the vertical detachment energy (VDE) of [(CAN)3-3HCl]− (1.83 ± 0.015 eV) is in good agreement with the VDE of TCB− (1.84±0.015 eV). This result suggests that electron attachment onto CAN clusters intiates an anionic polymerization reaction to form the cyclic trimer reaction product, TCB−, as inferred previously by Kondow and co-workers from an analysis of mass-spectral data.