Metastable Negative Ions

Metastable negative ions have been detected with a mass spectrometer during an electron bombardment study of ethyl dichlorophosphate. Seven transitions for these metastable negative ions are tabulated, and the half-lives of two of these ions have been measured using a method proposed by Hipple. Measurements on the metastable ions in the transitions C₂{H}₅P{O}₂Cl₂^-{→}PO₂{Cl}^{{-}}$ + [${C}₂H₅Cl] and PO₂{Cl}^{{-}}→{Cl}^{{-}}$+[P${O}₂] give 1.9×{10}^{{-}6}and 4.8×{10}^{{-}6}$ sec, respectively, as their half-lives.