Unimolecular dissociation of doubly ionized toluene and electron transfer between neutral toluene and its dication

Electron-induced dissociation dynamics studied using covariance-map imaging

Recently, covariance analysis has found significant use in the field of chemical reaction dynamics. When coupled with data from product time-of-flight mass spectrometry and/or multi-mass velocity-map imaging, it allows us to uncover correlations between two or more ions formed from the same parent molecule. While the approach has parallels with coincidence measurements, covariance analysis allows experiments to be performed at much higher count rates than traditional coincidence methods. We report results from electron-molecule crossed-beam experiments, in which covariance analysis is used to elucidate the dissociation dynamics of multiply-charged ions formed by electron ionisation over the energy range from 50 to 300 eV. The approach is able to isolate signal contributions from multiply charged ions even against a very large 'background' of signal arising from dissociation of singly-charged parent ions. Covariance between the product time-of-flight spectra identifies pairs of fragments arising from the same parent ions, while covariances between the velocity-map images ('recoil-frame covariances') reveal the relative velocity distributions of the ion pairs. We show that recoil-frame covariance analysis can be used to distinguish between multiple plausible dissociation mechanisms, including multi-step processes, and that the approach becomes particularly powerful when investigating the fragmentation dynamics of larger molecules with a higher number of possible fragmentation pathways.

Production of Long-Lived Benzene Dications from Electron Impact in the 20-2000 eV Energy Range Combined with the Search for Global Minimum Structures

In this work, we report a systematic search of metastable C₆H_n²⁺ (n = 1-6) dications from electron impact time-of-flight measurements of several benzene derivatives in combination with global minimum search based on the genetic algorithm. Our theoretical calculations reveal that the C₆H_n²⁺ (n < 6) global minimum structures are completely different from that of the benzene dication, featuring linear carbon chains and/or cyclopropenylium moieties. Experimentally, the doubly charged species were investigated for a wide range of electron impact energies, from 20 to 2000 eV, for benzene and several monosubstituted compounds containing either electron-withdrawing or -donating groups. Furthermore, the C₆H_n²⁺ production, evaluated from the yields of the dications with respect to that of the parent ion (or parent dication), was compared to those obtained from charge exchange in the doubly charged 2E spectra and electron impact experiments available in the literature. The yields of the long-lived benzene dications were contrasted to those analogues formed in chlorobenzene. Moreover, the formation of C₆H_n²⁺ species is strongly dependent on the nature of substituent groups, with electron-withdrawing ones favoring the dication formation.

Effects of collision energy and vibrational excitation of CH3+ cations on its reactivity with hydrocarbons: But-2-yne CH3CCCH3 as reagent partner

The methyl carbocation is ubiquitous in gaseous environments, such as planetary ionospheres, cometary comae, and the interstellar medium, as well as combustion systems and plasma setups for technological applications. Here we report on a joint experimental and theoretical study on the mechanism of the reaction CH₃⁺ + CH₃CCCH₃ (but-2-yne, also known as dimethylacetylene), by combining guided ion beam mass spectrometry experiments with ab initio calculations of the potential energy hypersurface. Such a reaction is relevant in understanding the chemical evolution of Saturn's largest satellite, Titan. Two complementary setups have been used: in one case, methyl cations are generated via electron ionization, while in the other case, direct vacuum ultraviolet photoionization with synchrotron radiation of methyl radicals is used to study internal energy effects on the reactivity. Absolute reactive cross sections have been measured as a function of collision energy, and product branching ratios have been derived. The two most abundant products result from electron and hydride transfer, occurring via direct and barrierless mechanisms, while other channels are initiated by the electrophilic addition of the methyl cation to the triple bond of but-2-yne. Among the minor channels, special relevance is placed on the formation of C₅H₇⁺, stemming from H₂ loss from the addition complex. This is the only observed condensation product with the formation of new C-C bonds, and it might represent a viable pathway for the synthesis of complex organic species in astronomical environments and laboratory plasmas.

Selective Generation of the Radical Cation Isomers [CH3CN](•+) and [CH2CNH](•+) via VUV Photoionization of Different Neutral Precursors and Their Reactivity with C2H4

Experimental and theoretical studies have been carried out to demonstrate the selective generation of two different C2H3N(+) isomers, namely, the acetonitrile [CH3CN](•+) and the ketenimine [CH2CNH](•+) radical cations. Photoionization and dissociative photoionization experiments from different neutral precursors (acetonitrile and butanenitrile) have been performed using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) synchrotron radiation in the 10-15 eV energy range, delivered by the DESIRS beamline at the SOLEIL storage ring. For butanenitrile (CH3CH2CH2CN) an experimental ionization threshold of 11.29 ± 0.05 eV is obtained, whereas the appearance energy for the formation of [CH2CNH](•+) fragments is 11.52 ± 0.05 eV. Experimental findings are fully supported by theoretical calculations at the G4 level of theory (ZPVE corrected energies at 0 K), giving a value of 11.33 eV for the adiabatic ionization energy of butanenitrile and an exothermicity of 0.49 for fragmentation into [CH2CNH](•+) plus C2H4, hampered by an energy barrier of 0.29 eV. The energy difference between [CH3CN](•+) and [CH2CNH](•+) is 2.28 eV (with the latter being the lowest energy isomer), and the isomerization barrier is 0.84 eV. Reactive monitoring experiments of the [CH3CN](•+) and [CH2CNH](•+) isomers with C2H4 have been performed using the CERISES guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer and exploiting the selectivity of ethylene that gives exothermic charge exchange and proton transfer reactions with [CH3CN](•+) but not with [CH2CNH](•+) isomers. In addition, minor reactive channels are observed leading to the formation of new C-C bonds upon reaction of [CH3CN](•+) with C2H4, and their astrochemical implications are briefly discussed.

Carrier-envelope phase dependence of the directional fragmentation and hydrogen migration in toluene in few-cycle laser fields

The dissociative ionization of toluene initiated by a few-cycle laser pulse as a function of the carrier envelope phase (CEP) is investigated using single-shot velocity map imaging. Several ionic fragments, CH3 (+), H2 (+), and H3 (+), originating from multiply charged toluene ions present a CEP-dependent directional emission. The formation of H2 (+) and H3 (+) involves breaking C-H bonds and forming new bonds between the hydrogen atoms within the transient structure of the multiply charged precursor. We observe appreciable intensity-dependent CEP-offsets. The experimental data are interpreted with a mechanism that involves laser-induced coupling of vibrational states, which has been found to play a role in the CEP-control of molecular processes in hydrocarbon molecules, and appears to be of general importance for such complex molecules.

Accurate analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs homologs in crude oil for improving the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry performance

The common gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) approaches such as selective ion monitoring (SIM) or single ion extraction (SIE) from full scan data produce the error (over- or underestimation) estimates for the high level alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In order to rectify the error, the alkylated PAHs in the crude oil samples are quantified by deeply investigating the existing full scan data of 1D GC/MS, instead of resuming with the complex and inaccessible equipments (multidimensional gas chromatography or mass spectrometry). The aim of this study is to provide the detailed qualitative and quantitative basis data (confirming ions, relative abundance, retention indices, and area counts) of the high level alkylated PAHs by a comprehensive three-step method: (1) the potential confirming ions per isomer are selected by exploring the multiple fragment patterns formation mechanism; (2) the reasonable confirming ions are estimated by comparing extracted ion chromatography (EIC) of the potential confirming ions; (3) after deconvolution, composite chromatograms of the reasonable confirming ions illustrate the basis data by assigning peaks for target PAHs definitively. The validation data, resulting concentrations and diagnostic ratios for each homolog are compared with those obtained from SIM. The experimental data demonstrate that significant inaccurate identifications and concentration estimates are obtained when SIM mode is used for C4 Naphthalene (C4 N), C3 Phenanthrene (C3 P), C4 Phenanthrene (C4 P), C3 Dibenzothiophene (C3 D), C3 Fluorene (C3 F), C2-4 Chrysene (C2-4 C) and C1 Fluoranthene (C1 Flt). This study evaluates the usefulness of the previous fragmentation patterns, and confirms compound presence by GC/MS using the different spectral deconvolution software. This approach is developed as a broad screen for environmental samples (including petrol, diesel fuel and coal tar), with only the crude oil results being presented here.

Energy partitioning in single-electron transfer events between gaseous dications and their neutral counterparts

Electron-transfer reactions between hydrocarbon dications and neutral hydrocarbons lead to an unequal deposition of the excess energy from the reaction in the pair of monocations formed. The initial observation of this phenomenon was explained by the different states accessible upon single-electron capture by a dication compared to single-electron ejection from a neutral compound. Alternatively, however, isomeric structures of the dicationic species, pronounced Franck-Condon effects, as well as excess energy in the dicationic precursors could cause the asymmetric energy partitioning in such dication/neutral collisions. Here, the investigation of this phenomenon in an interdisciplinary cooperation is described, shedding light not only upon a possible solution of the problem at hand, but also providing an example for the synergistic benefits of international research networks applying complementary approaches.