Ab initio and RRKM study of photodissociation of azulene cation

Laser-induced fragmentation of coronene cations

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are an important component of the interstellar medium of galaxies and photochemistry plays a key role in the evolution of these species in space. Here, we explore the photofragmentation behaviour of the coronene cation (C24H12˙+) using time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The experiments show photodissociation fragmentation channels including the formation of bare carbon clusters (Cn˙+) and hydrocarbon chains (CnHx+). The mass spectrum of coronene is dominated by peaks from C11˙+ and C7H+. Density functional theory was used to calculate relative energies, potential dissociation pathways, and possible structures for relevant species. We identify 6-6 → 5-7 ring isomerisation as a key step in the formation of both the bare carbon clusters and the hydrocarbon chains observed in this study. We present the dissociation mechanism outlined here as a potential formation route for C60 and other astrochemically relevant species.

Structural analysis of C8H6˙+ fragment ion from quinoline using ion-mobility spectrometry/mass spectrometry

This study investigated the structures of fragment ions derived from the quinoline (C9H7N) radical cation using ion-mobility spectrometry and mass spectrometry. Ion mobility and mass analysis revealed that C8H6˙+ is the primary dissociation product resulting from the loss of HCN during collision-induced dissociation of the quinoline radical cation. The reduced mobility (K0) of the C8H6˙+ fragment product in helium gas was measured over a range of reduced electric fields (E/N = 20.8-27.4 Td) at room temperature. The experimental K0 values indicated that C8H6˙+ is a mixture of phenylacetylene and pentalene radical cations. Furthermore, quantum chemical calculations revealed two potential energy surfaces delineating the loss of HCN from the quinoline radical cation to form phenylacetylene radical cations.

Addressing electronic and dynamical evolution of molecules and molecular clusters: DFTB simulations of energy relaxation in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

We present a review of the capabilities of the density functional based Tight Binding (DFTB) scheme to address the electronic relaxation and dynamical evolution of molecules and molecular clusters following energy deposition via either collision or photoabsorption. The basics and extensions of DFTB for addressing these systems and in particular their electronic states and their dynamical evolution are reviewed. Applications to PAH molecules and clusters, carbonaceous systems of major interest in astrochemical/astrophysical context, are reported. A variety of processes are examined and discussed such as collisional hydrogenation, fast collisional processes and induced electronic and charge dynamics, collision-induced fragmentation, photo-induced fragmentation, relaxation in high electronic states, electronic-to-vibrational energy conversion and statistical versus non-statistical fragmentation. This review illustrates how simulations may help to unravel different relaxation mechanisms depending on various factors such as the system size, specific electronic structure or excitation conditions, in close connection with experiments.

New light on the imbroglio surrounding the C8H+6 isomers formed from ionized azulene and naphthalene using ion-molecule reactions

Most polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can isomerize with internal energies near to or below the dissociation threshold. The C10H+8 group of ions, made up of the naphthalene (Naph+) and the azulene (Azu+) radical cations, is a prototypical example. C8H+6 isomers are important species in the growth kinetics and formation of complex organic molecules, and more generally fragments from larger PAHs, yet information about C8H+6 structures is scarce and contradictory. Here, ion-molecule reactions were carried out and the tunable photoionization chemical monitoring technique was used to probe the C8H+6 isomers formed upon C2H2-loss from Naph+ and Azu+. The experimental findings were interpreted with the support of ab initio and kinetics calculations. To facilitate the interpretation of these data, chemical reactivity starting from phenylacetylene (PA) was studied. It was found that most of the C8H+6 ions formed from C10H8, in a timescale of 40 μs, are PA+ in the vicinity of the dissociation threshold. No evidence of the pentalene radical cation (PE+) was observed and explanations to reconcile previous results are presented.

Low-Energy Transformation Pathways between Naphthalene Isomers

The transformation pathways between low-energy naphthalene isomers are studied by investigating the topology of the energy landscape of this astrophysically relevant molecule. The threshold algorithm is used to identify the minima basins of the isomers on the potential energy surface of the system and to evaluate the probability flows between them. The transition pathways between the different basins and the associated probabilities were investigated for several lid energies up to 11 eV, this value being close to the highest photon energy in the interstellar medium (13.6 eV). More than a hundred isomers were identified and a set of 23 minima was selected among them, on the basis of their energy and probability of occurrence. The return probabilities of these 23 minima and the transition probabilities between them were computed for several lid energies up to 11 eV. The first connection appeared at 3.5 eV while all minima were found to be connected at 9.5 eV. The local density of state was also sampled inside their respective basins. This work gives insight into both energy and entropic barriers separating the different basins, which also provides information about the transition regions of the energy landscape.

Cooling dynamics of energized naphthalene and azulene radical cations

Naphthalene and azulene are isomeric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and are topical in the context of astrochemistry due to the recent discovery of substituted naphthalenes in the Taurus Molecular Cloud-1 (TMC-1). Here, the thermal- and photo-induced isomerization, dissociation, and radiative cooling dynamics of energized (vibrationally hot) naphthalene (Np+) and azulene (Az+) radical cations, occurring over the microsecond to seconds timescale, are investigated using a cryogenic electrostatic ion storage ring, affording "molecular cloud in a box" conditions. Measurement of the cooling dynamics and kinetic energy release distributions for neutrals formed through dissociation, until several seconds after hot ion formation, are consistent with the establishment of a rapid (sub-microsecond) Np+ ⇌ Az+ quasi-equilibrium. Consequently, dissociation by C2H2-elimination proceeds predominantly through common Az+ decomposition pathways. Simulation of the isomerization, dissociation, recurrent fluorescence, and infrared cooling dynamics using a coupled master equation combined with high-level potential energy surface calculations [CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ], reproduce the trends in the measurements. The data show that radiative cooling via recurrent fluorescence, predominately through the Np+ D0 ← D2 transition, efficiently quenches dissociation for vibrational energies up to ≈1 eV above dissociation thresholds. Our measurements support the suggestion that small cations, such as naphthalene, may be more abundant in space than previously thought. The strategy presented in this work could be extended to fingerprint the cooling dynamics of other PAH ions for which isomerization is predicted to precede dissociation.

Monitoring the Light-induced Isomerisation of the Prototypical Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons C10 H8 + through Ion-Molecule Reactions

Structural rearrangements in ions are essential for understanding the composition and evolution of energetic and chemically active environments. This study explores the interconversion routes for simple polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, namely naphthalene and azulene radical cations (C₁₀ H₈ ⁺ ), by combining mass spectrometry and vacuum ultraviolet tunable synchrotron radiation through the chemical monitoring technique. Products of ion-molecule reactions are used to probe C₁₀ H₈ ⁺ structures that are formed as a function of their internal energies. Isomerisation from azulene radical cation towards naphthalene radical cation in a timescale faster than 80 μs was monitored, whereas no reverse isomerisation was observed in the same time window. When energising C₁₀ H₈ ⁺ with more than 6 eV, the reactivity of C₁₀ H₈ ⁺ unveils the formation of a new isomeric group with a contrasted reactivity compared with naphthalene and azulene cations. We tentatively assigned these structures to phenylvinylacetylene cations.

A, Bouwman J, Avaldi L, Vinitha MV, Bolognesi P, Richter R, Kadhane U. Photodissociation of Quinoline Cation: Mapping the Potential Energy Surface

A detailed exploration of the potential energy surface of quinoline cation (C9H7N ·+) is carried out to extend the present understanding of its fragmentation mechanisms. DFT calculations have been performed to explore new fragmentation mechanisms giving special attention to previously unexplored pathways such as isomerisation and elimination of HNC. The isomerization mechanisms producing 5-7 membered ring intermediates have been described and are found to be a dominant channel both energetically and kinetically. Energetically competing pathways have been established for the astrochemically important HNC-loss channel, which has hitherto never been considered in the context of the loss of a 27 amu fragment from the parent ions. Elimination of acetylene was also studied in great detail. Overall computational results are found to complement the experimental observations from the concurrently conducted PEPICO investigation. These could potentially open the doors for rich and interesting VUV radiation driven chemistry on the planetary atomospheres, meteorites and comets.

A, Bouwman J, Avaldi L, Bolognesi P, Richter R. Comprehensive survey of dissociative photoionization of quinoline by PEPICO experiments

Dissociative photoionization of quinoline induced by vacuum ultraviolet radiation is investigated using photoelectron–photoion coincidence spectroscopy. Branching ratios of all the detectable fragment ions are measured as a function of internal energy ranging from 2 to 30 eV. A specific generation hierarchy is observed in the breakdown curves of a set of dissociation channels. Moreover, a careful comparison of the breakdown curves of fragments among the successive generations allowed to establish a decay sequence in the fragmentation of quinoline cation. This enabled us to revisit and refine the understanding of the first generation decay and reassign the origin of a few of the higher generation decay products of quinoline cation. With the help of the accompanying computational work (reported concurrently), we have demonstrated the dominance of two different HCN elimination pathways over previously interpreted mechanisms. For the first time, a specific pathway for acetylene elimination is identified in quinoline+ and the role of isomerization in both acetylene as well as hydrogen cyanide loss is also demonstrated. The experiment also established that the acetylene elimination exclusively occurs from the non-nitrogen containing rings of quinoline cation. The formation of a few astronomically important species is also discussed.

Structural elucidation of C6H4+· using chemical reaction monitoring: Charge transfer versus bond forming reactions

Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool but when used on its own, without specific activation of ions, the ion mass is the single observable and the structural information is absent. One way of retrieving this information is by using ion-molecule reactions. We propose a general method to disentangle isomeric structures by combining mass spectrometry, tunable synchrotron light source, and quantum-chemistry calculations. We use reactive chemical monitoring technique, which consists in tracking reactivity changes as a function of photoionization energy i.e. the ionic structure. We illustrate the power of this technique with charge transfer reactions of C6H4+· isomers with allene and propyne and discuss its universal applicability. Furthermore, we emphasize the special reactivity characteristics of distonic ions, where strong charge transfer reactivity but very limited reactivity involving bond formation and following cleavages were observed and attributed to the unconventional ortho -benzyne distonic cation.

Facile pentagon formation in the dissociation of polyaromatics

Energetic processing of gaseous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) plays a pivotal role in the chemistries of inter- and circumstellar environments, certain planetary atmospheres, and also in the chemistry of combustion and soot formation.

Spectroscopic evidence for the formation of pentalene+ in the dissociative ionization of naphthalene

Acetylene loss from the naphthalene cation yields pentalene⁺, providing the first experimental evidence for (6–6) to (5–7) membered ring isomerization.

Formation of H2 from internally heated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: excitation energy dependence

We have investigated the effectiveness of molecular hydrogen (H2) formation from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are internally heated by collisions with keV ions. The present and earlier experimental results are analyzed in view of molecular structure calculations and a simple collision model. We estimate that H2 formation becomes important for internal PAH temperatures exceeding about 2200 K, regardless of the PAH size and the excitation agent. This suggests that keV ions may effectively induce such reactions, while they are unlikely due to, e.g., absorption of single photons with energies below the Lyman limit. The present analysis also suggests that H2 emission is correlated with multi-fragmentation processes, which means that the [PAH-2H](+) peak intensities in the mass spectra may not be used for estimating H2-formation rates.

Ions colliding with cold polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon clusters

We report the first experimental study of ions interacting with clusters of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules. Collisions between 11.25 keV 3He+ or 360 keV 129Xe20+ and weakly bound clusters of one of the smallest PAH molecules, anthracene, show that C14H10 clusters have much higher tendencies to fragment in ion collisions than other weakly bound clusters. The ionization is dominated by peripheral collisions in which the clusters, very surprisingly, are more strongly heated by Xe20+ collisions than by He+ collisions. The appearance size is k=15 for [C ₁₄H₁₀](k)2+.

Structures of products from positive ion-molecule reactions by means of vibrational spectroscopy

Examples of various approaches to determining gaseous ion structures are described. Two cases are presented in which infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy provides characteristic information. Comparison with DFT-calculated normal modes differentiates isomers. The IRMPD spectrum of the even-electron C(8)D(8)F(+) product ion from the ion-molecule reaction of CF(3)(+) with perdeuterated acetophenone exhibits a degree of resolution sufficient to identify C(6)D(5)CFCD(3)(+) and rule out ring-fluorinated isomers. The dimerization of phenylacetylene with its molecular ion has been explored, with the conclusion that a mixture of product ions is formed. The best match to the experimental spectrum is achieved by superimposing the bands calculated for ionized 1-phenylazulene and ionized 1,2-diphenylcyclobutadiene.