Electron Attachment to the (O···CO) van der Waals Complex Results in a Monomeric Anion (O-CO), a Possible Form of CO.

We found that electron attachment to the van der Waals complex (O···CO) turns the weak intermolecular bond into a pseudochemical bond of significant strength. The resulting monomeric molecular anion (O-CO) may be a form of CO, the gaseous anionic species suspected to be present in Earth's ionosphere whose chemical characteristics have not been comprehensively identified since its existence was first predicted by Conway in 1962. The measured vertical detachment energy of CO is very large (4.56 ± 0.05 eV), while the known electron affinity of its component species is much smaller (0.448 eV, O) or even negative (-0.6 eV, CO). These characteristics are correctly borne out by theoretical calculations that show that electron attachment transforms the van der Waals complex to a single contiguous molecular anion, with the formation of a pseudochemical bond between O and CO through an extended π-orbital system.