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He–Iα photoelectron–photoion coincidence spectroscopy is used to study the decay of CO+2 molecular cations, initially prepared in various vibrational levels of the C̃ 2Σ+g state. The branching ratios for the energetically accessible fragmentation pathways are determined. Owing to the precisely known energetics and to an accurate measurement of the kinetic energies released, the partition of the respective excess energy among internal and external degrees of freedom of the separating fragments could be established. The formation of highly rotationally excited diatomic fragments must be proposed in order to explain the experimental results. The disappearance of O+ ions in favor of CO+ fragments as soon as the energy exceeds the dissociation limit for CO+ formation is consistent with a reinterpretation of previous ab initio calculations of potential-energy surfaces. The observed branching ratio for the population of the v=0 and v=1 levels of the CO fragment can be accounted for by an application of the statistical adiabatic channel model.

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