CO2 Elimination from Vinylene Carbonate Radical Anions and Charge Reversal in C2H2O⊙⊖: Reactions Involving the Radical Anion and Cation of Oxirene?

The first oxirene derivative, 3, was one of the products obtained from vinylene carbonate 1 in the gas phase. Electron attachment to 1, followed by elimination of CO2 and subsequent removal of two electrons from the radical anion, leads to the radical cation 2, which, depending on its internal energy, can also undergo isomerization to the stable oxirene radical cation 3, which was predicted by theory to be a stable species.