Reactions of hydrated electron clusters (H2O)n-: scavenging the excess electron

Free electrons, the simplest radicals of them all: chemistry of aqueous electrons as studied by mass spectrometry

“…Similar apparent unreactivity was reported for N 2 and CH 3 F colliding with (H 2 O) n − by Johnson and coworkers [42].…”

“…The clusters or "nandodroplets" thus provide a suitable medium, free of interference by impurities, where the lifetime of the free electrons is not limited by the presence of protons. This then permits convenient studies of the chemistry of these interesting reactants, as already exemplified by a series of investigations both in our laboratory [23,39,40] and earlier by Johnson and coworkers [41,42]. These studies of hydrated electron reactions and chemistry form the subject of the present review.…”

“…A simple example is the reaction with O 2 [40][41][42]. Molecular oxygen has a 3 g ground state, with a 2 g 4 u 2 g electronic configuration, and can accommodate two additional electrons in its highest occupied degenerate antibonding g orbital.…”

Reactions of Hydrated Electrons (H2O)n− with Carbon Dioxide and Molecular Oxygen: Hydration of the CO2− and O2− Ions

“…There is a striking difference between the efficient reactions of the carbon dioxide and dioxygen molecules with the solvated (H 2 O) n À clusters, when compared with other similarly nonpolar molecules, such as, N 2 [31] or ethylene, C 2 H 4 , or even the somewhat polar CO, which do not to react at all.…”

“…[23,24] Hydrated electrons in the gas phase, (H 2 O) n À , were first reported by Haberland and co-workers, [25][26][27] and extensively characterized spectroscopically, among others by Bowen and co-workers. [28][29][30] A series of experiments by the groups of Johnson and Viggiano [31,32] in molecular beam and flow reactor set-ups has revealed an interesting variety in their behavior towards different gaseous reactants. As typical electron scavengers, diatomic O 2 , as well as the usually extremely stable and unreactive CO 2 molecules, are "dissolved" in the (H 2 O) n À with high efficiency.…”