Dihalomethanes
XCH
2
Y (X and Y = F, Cl, Br, and I) are a class of compounds
involved in several processes leading to the release of halogen atoms,
ozone consumption, and aerosol particle formation. Neutral dihalomethanes
have been largely studied, but chemical physics properties and processes
involving their radical ions, like the pathways of their decomposition,
have not been completely investigated. In this work the photodissociation
dynamics of the ClCH
2
I molecule has been explored in the
photon energy range 9–21 eV using both VUV rare gas discharge
lamps and synchrotron radiation. The experiments show that, among
the different fragment ions, CH
2
I
+
and CH
2
Cl
+
, which correspond to the Cl- and I-losses,
respectively, play a dominant role. The experimental ionization energy
of ClCH
2
I and the appearance energies of the CH
2
I
+
and CH
2
Cl
+
ions are in agreement
with the theoretical results obtained at the MP2/CCSD(T) level of
theory. Computational investigations have been also performed to study
the isomerization of geminal [ClCH
2
I]
•+
into the iso-chloroiodomethane isomers: [CH
2
I–Cl]
•+
and [CH
2
Cl–I]
•+
.