Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Electronic Structure of Met-Car Ti₈C₁₂

Photoelectron spectroscopy experiments are performed on a metallocarbohedrene, Ti 8 C 12 -, to obtain electronic structure information. The Ti 8 C 12 - anion is produced by laser vaporization of a titanium carbide target. The spectra of Ti 8 C 12 - consist of an intense threshold feature and two weaker features followed by a gap and more higher energy features. The electron affinity of Ti 8 C 12 is found to be 1.05 (±0.05) (adiabatic) and 1.16 (±0.05) eV (vertical). The surprisingly low electron affinity and the observed electronic features are interpreted using theoretical electronic structure information. The current experiments provide hitherto the most direct spectroscopic information on the Met-Car Ti 8 C 12 .