Ion chemistry in trifluoromethane, CHF3

Cross sections for dissociative ionization of trifluoromethane by electron impact have been measured using Fourier-transform mass spectrometry. Four fragment ions, CHF2+, CF2+, CF2+, and CF+ are observed, with a total cross section of 3.4 ± 0.4 × 10−16 cm2 at 60 eV. CFx+ (x = 1 − 3) ions react with neutral CHF3 to yield CHF2+ with rate coefficients of 3.9 ± 0.5 and 2.1 ± 0.4 × 10−10 cm3s−1for x = 2 and 3, respectively. The rate of cationic polymerization is less than 7 × 10−13 cm3s−1 and the anions F− and CF3− have yields less than 3 × 10−20 cm2 between 30 and 60 eV.