Is the Electron Hydrated Through Covalent Sharing?

Abstract

The hydrated electron ($e_{aq}^-$), a key species in radiation chemistry, is traditionally modeled as an interior electron confined within a solvent cavity and stabilized by electrostatic interactions. However, this picture fails to account for its high binding energy and discrete excited states, as the cavity lacks sufficient dipole strength to support deep electronic confinement. Using \textit{ab initio} methods that capture resonant interactions between the free electron and water, we show that the hydrated electron is stabilized through covalent delocalization. Existing approaches misrepresent this as electrostatic trapping within a cavity -- an interpretation rooted in assumptions of a pre-bound electron and the omission of the resonant character of the initial interaction between the free electron and water. Our results reveal that the electron forms transient negative ion molecular states through resonant attachment to neighboring water molecules, where it is initially captured, and delocalizes over them via an intermolecular bonding network formed by the superposition of $a_1$ valence orbitals. This covalent delocalization yields cavity-like structures without requiring electrostatic trapping and naturally explains observed spectral features, including higher-nodal excited states and enhanced binding energies. In short, cavity formation is initiated by \textit{associative electron attachment (AEA)} -- a molecular process driven by a resonant interaction between the free electron and its neighboring water molecules, and wherein the electron becomes covalently shared to them -- during the energy dissipation phase of the free electron preceding full solvation.