Alkali chloride cluster ion dissociation examined by the kinetic method: heterolytic bond dissociation energies, effective temperatures, and entropic effects.

Branching ratios have been measured as a function of collision energy for the dissociation of mass-selected chloride-bound salt cluster ions, [Rb-35Cl-Mi]+, where Mi = Na, K, Cs. The extended version of the kinetic method was used to determine the heterolytic bond dissociation energy (HBDE) of Rb-Cl. The measured value of 480.