Statistical description of metastable negative ions' decay

The decay of metastable negative ions resulted from the resonant electron capture by the molecules of acridanoneacetic acid benzyl ester has been studied using the negative ions' mass spectrometry technique. The simple model of metastable decay has been developed on the basis of the statistical Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Markus theory (RRKM). Based on the comparative analysis of the experimental and calculated effective yield curves of ions the shape of the internal energy distribution of molecular negative ions has been estimated.