Photodissociation Dynamics of 2-Iodotoluene Investigated by Femtosecond Time-Resolved Mass Spectrometry

The photodissociation dynamics of 2-iodotoluene following excitation at 266 nm have been investigated employing femtosecond time-resolved mass spectrometry. The photofragments are detected by multiphoton ionization using an intense laser field centered at 800 nm. A dissociation time of 38±50 fs was measured from the rising time of the co-fragments of toluene radical (C₇H₇) and iodine atom (I), which is attributed to the averaged time needed for the C-I bond breaking for the simultaneously excited nσ^* and ππ^* states by 266 nm pump light. In addition, a probe light centered at 298.23 nm corresponding to resonance wavelength of ground-state iodine atom is used to selectively ionize ground-state iodine atoms generated from the dissociation of initially populated nσ^* and ππ^* states. And a rise time of 40±50 fs is extracted from the fitting of time-dependent I⁺ transient, which is in agreement with the dissociation time obtained by multiphoton ionization with 800 nm, suggesting that the main dissociative products are ground-state iodine atoms.     

Molecular photoelectron interference effects by intense circularly polarized attosecond x-ray pulses

We present photoelectron interference effects in molecular photoionization by intense circularly polarized attosecond X-ray laser pulses. Simulations are performed on single electron molecular systems, H\(_{2}^{+}\), HeH²⁺, and H\(_{3}^{2+}\), by numerically solving the corresponding three-dimensional time dependent Schrödinger equations. Photoelectron spectra show that both momentum ring and stripe patterns are obtained, arising respectively from the interference of the direct ionized and scattered electron wave packets. Multi-center electron interference models in molecular ultrafast photoionization are used to describe the ionized electron dynamics. The interference patterns are shown to be dependent on molecular orbital symmetry, thus offering tools for attosecond imaging molecular structure at different molecular geometries.     

Observation and Identification of Metastable Excited States in Ultrafast Laser-Ionized Pyridine

We report on the fragmentation of ionized pyridine (C₅H₅N) molecules by focused 50 fs, 800 nm laser pulses. Such ionization produces several metastable ionic states that fragment within the field-free drift region of a reflectron-type time of flight mass spectrometer, with one particular metastable dissociation being the leading fragmentation process. Because the time of flight is no longer dependent in a simple way on the mass of the ion, the metastable decay is manifested as an unfocused peak on the mass spectrum that appears at a time of flight not corresponding to an integer mass. A previously-developed method is used to identify the precursor and final masses of these ions. The metastable process that creates the most prevalent peak is shown to be C₅H₅N⁺ → C₄H₄⁺ + HCN. Simulations confirm this result and place restrictions on the processes for several other observed metastable reactions.     

Computational insight into excited states of the ring-opening radicals from the pyrolysis of furan biofuels

The low-lying valence excited states and Rydberg states of the radical species from the ring-opening reactions in pyrolysis of furan biofuels have been determined by extensive density functional theory and sophisticated wave function theory calculations. The radicals 1-C₄H₅O-2, 2-furylCH₂, and 4-C₆H₇O with the delocalized π-type single electron are predicted to be most stable among the reactive species here for furan, 2-methyfuran, and 2,5-dimethylfuran, respectively. Predicted vertical transition energies by TD-CAM-B3LYP show good agreement with those by CASPT2. Some among the electronic excitations to low-lying states can take place in the visible light region, and they may be involved in the combustion process. Further surface hopping dynamics simulations on the excited states of the most stable ring-opening radical 1-C₄H₅O-2 of furan as an example reveal that 89.9% sampling trajectories at the initial excited state of 2²A”(π¹π*²) decay to the 1²A’(n¹π*²) state within an average of 384 fs, and then 81.2% trajectories at the 1²A’ state go to the ground state within an average of 114 fs. At the end of the simulation for 1000 fs, 18.8% trajectories still stay on the excited states of 2²A” and 1²A’, suggesting that the reactive radicals in the ground state are mainly responsible for the combustion chemistry of furan biofuels. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Extending Metal‐to‐Polyoxometalate Charge Transfer Lifetimes: The Effect of Heterometal Location

In an effort to develop robust molecular sensitizers for solar fuel production, the electronic structure and photodynamics of transition‐metal‐substituted polyoxometalates (POMs), a novel class of compound in this context, was examined. Experimental and computational techniques including femtosecond (fs) transient absorption spectroscopy have been used to study the cobalt‐containing Keggin POMs, [Co^IIW₁₂O₄₀]^6? ( 1 a ), [Co^IIIW₁₂O₄₀]^5? ( 2 a ), [SiCo^II(H₂O)W₁₁O₃₉]^6? ( 3 a ), and [SiCo^III(H₂O)W₁₁O₃₉]^5? ( 4 a ), finding the longest lived charge transfer excited state so far observed in a POM and elucidating the electronic structures and excited‐state dynamics of these compounds at an unprecedented level. All species exhibit a bi‐exponential decay in which early dynamic processes with time constants in the fs domain yield longer lived excited states which decay with time constants in the ps to ns domain. The initially formed states of 1 a and 3 a are considered to result from metal‐to‐polyoxometalate charge transfer (MPCT) from Co^II to W, while the longer‐lived excited state of 1 a is tentatively assigned to a localized intermediate MPCT state. The excited state formed by the tetrahedral cobalt(II) centered heteropolyanion ( 1 a ) is far longer‐lived (τ=420 ps in H₂O; τ=1700 ps in MeCN) than that of 3 a (τ=1.3 ps), in which the single Co^II atom is located in a pseudo‐octahedral addendum site. Short‐lived states are observed for the two Co^III‐containing heteropolyanions 2 a (τ=4.4 ps) and 4 a (τ=6.3 ps) and assigned solely to O→Co^III charge transfer. The dramatically extended lifetime for 1 a versus 3 a is ascribed to a structural change permitted by the coordinatively flexible central site, weak orbital overlap of the central Co with the polytungstate framework, and putative transient valence trapping of the excited electron on a single W atom, a phenomenon not noted previously in POMs.     

An ab initio calculation of symmetric bending and stretching vibrational states of the H3O+ and D3O+ ions

Calculations are reported for the symmetric bending and stretching vibrational states of H₃O⁺ and D₃O⁺ including coupling between these two modes. The calculations were carried out by using a potential surface calculated by the SCF CI method and expressed in terms of symmetric internal coordinates. The transition energy of the ν₂ (1^? ← 0⁺) inversion mode is found to be 985 cm^?1, which is comparable to the experimental value of 954.417 cm^?1 observed by Haese and Oka. The calculated inversion doubling of the lowest state is 51 cm^?1.     

强阿秒XUV激走脉冲下H2^＋分子光电子能谱角分布非对称性

利用2D平面模型,求解了描述定向H2^＋分子和阿秒XUV脉冲相互作用的薛定谔方程,并求得光电子的角度分布．在计算模型中,采用基态1sσg和第一激发态2pσu的等比例混合态作为初始态,而激光脉冲的光子能量大于电离势,强度为10^14 W/cm^2． 计算结果表明,光电子角分布的非对称性和脉冲的宽度密切相关．这种非对称性实际上是由于初始态的基态和激发态的相干振荡而导致的．当使用长脉冲时,这种相干振荡的周期效应就会被平均而消失,从而产生的光电子能谱会呈对称角分布．     

The INDO/2-AHP (average hole potential) method for excited states: Comparison with the simple INDO/2-HP (hole potential) method

The INDO/2 version of the average hole potential (AHP) model is analyzed. The model is applied to study the geometric features, molecular inversion barriers, singlet-triplet splittings, etc., of a few small carbonyl molecules (H₂CO, HFCO, F₂CO) in the ^1,3nπ* states with partial as well as complete optimization of all geometric parameters in the excited states. The results are compared with those obtained by a simple hole-potential (HP) model.     

Determination of Erbium by Two-Color Three-Photon Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Excited states and autoionization states of the erbium atom were investigated by the use of multicolor resonance ionization mass spectrometry. Among the observed first excited states, a level [4f¹²(³H₆)6s6p(³P₁)] located 17,348 cm⁻¹from the ground state is regarded as the most efficient state for excitation within the wavelength range investigated (560–600 nm), while a level located 17,080 cm⁻¹from this first excited state (E= 34,458 cm⁻¹) is identified as the best second excited state for the optimal photoionization scheme. Many ionization schemes adopting an autoionization state are also investigated, and the most efficient scheme is identified as 4f¹²6s²(³H₆) → 4f¹²(³H₆)6s6p(³P₁⁰), 17,348 cm⁻¹→ 34,458 cm⁻¹→ continuum state, which corresponds to the two-color (ω₁+ ω₂+ ω_1,2) scheme. Various concentrations of standard solutions for erbium are determined and the minimum amount detectable by two-color three-photon ionization was determined to be 20 pg.     

N,N:N′,N′‐Bis(2,2'‐dihydroxy­biphen­yl‐3,3'‐dimethyl­idene)benzene‐1,2‐diamine dimeth­yl sulfoxide tetra­solvate

The title compound, 8,15,28,35‐tetra­aza­hepta­cyclo[35.3.1.1^2,6.1^17,21.1^22,26.0^9,14·0^29,34]tetraconta‐1(41),2,4,6(42),7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21(43),22,24,26(44),27,29,31,33,35,37,39‐docosaene‐41,42,43,44‐tetrol dimeth­yl sulfoxide tetra­solvate, C₄₀H₂₈N₄O₄·4C₂H₆OS, adopts a chair‐shaped C_2h symmetric conformation with crystallographically imposed inversion symmetry. Four intra­molecular hydrogen bonds are observed between phenol O and imine N atoms.     

Formation of H3O+ from alcohols and ethers induced by intense laser fields

The processes of H₃O⁺ production from alcohols (ethanol, 2‐propanol, 1‐propanol, 2‐butanol) and ethers (diethyl ether and ethyl methyl ether), and their deuterium‐substituted species, by intense laser fields (800 nm, 100 fs, ～1 × 10¹⁴ W/cm) were investigated through time‐of‐flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. H₃O⁺ formation was observed for all these compounds except for ethyl methyl ether. From the analysis of TOF signals of H_(3?n)D_nO⁺ (n = 0, 1, 2, and 3) that have expanding tails with increasing flight time, it has been confirmed that the reaction proceeds through metastable dissociation from the intermediate species C₂H_(5?m)D_mO⁺(m = 0–5). The common shape of the H_(3?n)D_nO⁺ signal profiles contains two major distributions in the time constant, i.e., fast and slow components of <50 ns and ～500 ns, respectively. The H_(3?n)D_nO⁺ branching ratio is interpreted to be the result of complete scrambling of four hydrogen atoms at the C? C site in C₂H₄‐OH⁺, and partial exchange (18–38%) of a hydrogen atom in the OH group with four other hydrogen atoms within 1 ns prior to H_(3?n)D_nO⁺ production. Ab initio calculations for the isomers and transition states of C₂H₅O⁺ were also performed, and the observed H_(3?n)D_nO⁺ production mechanism has been discussed. In addition, a stable isomer having a complex structure and two isomerization pathways were discovered to contribute to the H₃O⁺ formation process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photoionization of H2Se: high-resolution and threshold photoelectron spectra

The high-resolution HeI-induced photoelectron spectrum as well threshold photoelectron spectrum and the total photoionization efficiency curves of H₂Se between 9 and 21 eV are presented. The energies of the observed vibronic bands of the ²B₁, ²A₁ and ²B₂ states are reported. The formal analysis of a rich autoionization spectrum detected with photoionization has been attempted.     

Some properties of the bivariational Hartree–Fock scheme for complex symmetric many-particle operators

The bivariational Hartree–Fock scheme for a general many-body operator T is discussed with particular reference to the complex symmetric case: T^? = T*. It shown that, even in the case when the complex symmetric operator T is real and hence also self-adjoint, the complex symmetric Hartree–Fock scheme does not reduce to the conventional real form, unless one introduces the constraint that the N-dimensional space spanned by the Hartree–Fock functions ? should be stable under complex conjugation, so that ?* = ?α. If one omits this constraint, one gets a complex symmetric formulation of the Hartree–Fock scheme for a real N-electron Hamiltonian having the properties H = H* = H^?, in which the effective Hamiltonian H_eff (1) may have complex eigenvalues ε_k. By using the method of complex scaling, it is indicated that these complex eigenvalues—at least for certain systems—may be related to the existence of so-called physical resonance states, and a simple example is given. Full details will be given elsewhere.     

Rotation energies for deuterated H+3 oscillators in zero-point states of vibration

Previous ab initio studies of deuterated H⁺₃ molecular ions are extended to include rotational modes for the zero-point states of vibration. Rotation energies are obtained using direct numerical diagonalization of vibration—rotation hamiltonian matrices, and nuclear wavefunctions as superpositions of mode-coupled anharmonic rotationless vibrators and related prolate symmetric top eigenfunctions. Relevance to recent searches for interstellar H₂D⁺ is noted.     

Dynamics of excited <Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis>-dichlorobenzene

Dynamics of excited m-dichlorobenzene is investigated in real time by femtosecond pump-probe method, combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometric detection in a supersonic molecular beam. The yields of the parent ion and daughter ion C₆H₄Cl⁺ are examined as a function of the delay between the 270 and 810 nm femtosecond laser pulses, respectively. The lifetime of the first singlet excited state S₁ of m-dichlorobenzene is measured. The origin of this daughter ion C₆H₄Cl⁺ is discussed. The ladder mechanism is proposed to form the fragment ion. In addition, our experimental results exhibit a rapid damped sinusoidal oscillation over intermediate time delays, which is due to quantum beat effects.     

Specific fragmentation of the K‐shell excited/ionized pyridine derivatives studied by electron impact: 2‐, 3‐ and 4‐methylpyridine

Fragmentation of the pyridine ring upon K‐shell excitation/ionization has been studied with gaseous 2‐, 3‐ and 4‐methylpyridine by the electron‐impact method. Ab initio molecular orbital (MO) calculations were also carried out to explore electronic states correlating with specific fragments. Some specific fragmentation channels were identified from the ionic fragments enhanced characteristically at the N 1s edge. Yields of the C₂HN⁺ and C₅H₅⁺/C₅H₆⁺ ions show that the fission of the N? C2 and C4? C5/C5? C6 bonds of the ring is likely to occur after the N 1s excitation and ionization. Ab initio MO calculations for the 2‐methylpyridine molecule indicate that the dissociation channels to produce these ions are only accessible through the excited states of the parent molecular dication, which can be formed by Auger decays after the N 1s ionization. Fragment ions via hydrogen rearrangement are produced as well, but the rearrangement is not a phenomenon specific to the K‐shell excitation/ionization. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanism of vibrational relaxation and intersystem crossing within excited ion-pair states of I2

Visible and ultraviolet fluorescence of I₂, following excitation by ArF/193nm excimer laser pulses, was recorded for different pressures of argon buffer gas in a flow system. Dispersed fluorescence spectra due to the transitionsD’(2_g) → A’(2_y andD(0 _n ⁺ )→X0 _g ⁺ ) were analysed by inversion and spectral simulations. Thus vibrational distributions in the emitting states were obtained as a function of pressure to determine the mechanism of relaxation to populate the lowest quantum levels of theD’ state, which are the emitting states in the iodine laser. Fast intersystem crossing is found to occur from initially populated vibrational levels of theD state to other ion-pair states correlating with the ground state ions, followed by rapid relaxation, involving both direct vibrational relaxation within individual states and intersystem crossing between states.     

Sub-picosecond laser ionization of free C60 and C70 at 248 nm

Delayed ionization is found to be absent for sub-picosecond laser excitation of free C₆₀ and C₇₀ at 248 nm. The autocorrelation trace obtained for C ₆₀ ⁺ in a laser time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer using two time-delayed and collinear 248 nm ultrashort laser pulses has a width of 1.1 ps (715 fs for sech² pulses), in agreement with the laser pulse duration measurement in NO gas. Both above observations can be explained by direct ionization of C₆₀ via coherent two-photon absorption by the high intensity sub-picosecond 248 nm laser excitation avoiding the channel leading to delayed ionization.     

A novel one‐dimensional metal–organic framework with a μ‐cyanido‐argentate group: catena‐poly[[(5,5′‐dimethyl‐2,2′‐bipyridyl‐κ2N,N′)silver(I)]‐μ‐cyanido‐κ2N:C]

The design and synthesis of metal coordination and supramolecular frameworks containing N‐donor ligands and dicyanidoargentate units is of interest due to their potential applications in the fields of molecular magnetism, catalysis, nonlinear optics and luminescence. In the design and synthesis of extended frameworks, supramolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking and van der Waals interactions, have been exploited for molecular recognition associated with biological activity and for the engineering of molecular solids.The title compound, [Ag(CN)(C₁₂H₁₂N₂)]_n, crystallizes with the Ag^I cation on a twofold axis, half a cyanide ligand disordered about a centre of inversion and half a twofold‐symmetric 5,5′‐dimethyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine (5,5′‐dmbpy) ligand in the asymmetric unit. Each Ag^I cation exhibits a distorted tetrahedral geometry; the coordination environment comprises one C(N) atom and one N(C) atom from substitutionally disordered cyanide bridging ligands, and two N atoms from a bidentate chelating 5,5′‐dmbpy ligand. The cyanide ligand links adjacent Ag^I cations to generate a one‐dimensional zigzag chain. These chains are linked together via weak nonclassical intermolecular interactions, generating a two‐dimensional supramolecular network.