Superasymmetric Fission of Multiply Charged Fullerene Ions

The occurrence and the features of a superasymmetric spontaneous decay reaction C₆₀^0ex0exz+→C₅₈^0ex0ex(z-1)++C₂^0ex0ex+ with z ranging from 3 to 7 are presented. Using isotope-resolved, two-sector-field mass spectrometric techniques it was possible to measure the kinetic energy release and dissociation rate for this reaction in two different time windows after the electron-induced production of the parent ion. The results obtained indicate that this dominant charge separation reaction proceeds via a multistep reaction sequence initiated by unimolecular C₂ evaporation followed by a charge transfer process from the ion to the neutral fragment leading to the observed Coulombic repulsion.