Photodissociation of CF2=CFCl at 193 nm by translational spectroscopy

The photodissociation of CF2=CFCl at 193 nm has been studied by product translational spectroscopy. Results show that the molecule undergoes competing dissociation into three pairs of products: (1) CFCl+CF2, (2) C2F2Cl+F, and (3) C2F3+Cl with a relative yield of 1.0:similar to 0.1:1.4. When photolyzed with polarized laser light, reactions (1) and (3) were detected with fragments recoiling anisotropically, indicating that dissociation occurs primarily on the excited potential energy surface. From the maximum kinetic energy derived for reactions (2) and (3), a upper limit of 110 and 90 kcal/mol was determined for the C-F bond and the C-Cl bond dissociation energy, respectively. In addition to these primary dissociation channels, we have observed the secondary products, CF+CF2 and F+C2F2 from the primary fragment C2F3 by absorbing an additional photon. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)00739-X].