Photoelectron spectra of CeO(-) and Ce(OH)2 (-).

The photoelectron spectrum of CeO(-) exhibits what appears to be a single predominant electronic transition over an energy range in which numerous close-lying electronic states of CeO neutral are well known. The photoelectron spectrum of Ce(OH)2 (-), a molecule in which the Ce atom shares the same formal oxidation state as the Ce atom in CeO(-), also exhibits what appears to be a single transition. From the spectra, the adiabatic electron affinities of CeO and Ce(OH)2 are determined to be 0.936 ± 0.007 eV and 0.69 ± 0.03 eV, respectively. From the electron affinity of CeO, the CeO(-) bond dissociation energy was determined to be 7.7 eV, 0.5 eV lower than the neutral bond dissociation energy. The ground state orbital occupancies of both CeO(-) and Ce(OH)2 (-) are calculated to have 4f 6s(2) Ce(+) superconfigurations, with open-shell states having 4f5d6s superconfiguration predicted to be over 1 eV higher in energy. Low-intensity transitions observed at higher electron binding energies in the spectrum of CeO(-) are tentatively assigned to the (1)Σ(+) (Ω = 0) state of CeO with the Ce+26s2 superconfiguration.