Anion photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory have been utilized to study the parent, ethyl cyanoacrylate molecular anion, ECA(-). The measured electron affinity (0.9 +/- 0.2 eV), vertical detachment energy (1.3 +/- 0.1 eV), and anion-to-triplet neutral, photodetachment transition energies (4.0 +/- 0.1 eV and 4.5 +/- 0.1 eV) all compare well with their calculated values. The relatively high electron affinity of the ECA monomer is responsible for the fact that its "anionic" polymerization mechanism proceeds even with weak nucleophiles, such as water. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.