Energetics and ionization dynamics of two diarylketone molecules: benzophenone and fluorenone

Valence photoelectron imaging of molecular oxybenzone

An oxybenzone molecule in the gas phase was characterized by mass spectrometry and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, using both single and multiphoton ionization schemes. A tabletop high harmonic generation source with a monochromator was used for single-photon ionization of oxybenzone with photon energies of up to 35.7 eV. From this, vertical ionization and appearance energies, as well as energy-dependent anisotropy parameters were retrieved and compared with the results from DFT calculations. For two-photon ionization using 4.7 eV light, we found a higher appearance energy than in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) case, highlighting the possible influence of an intermediate state on the photoionization process. We found no differences in the mass spectra when ionizing oxybenzone by single-photons between 17.2 and 35.7 eV. However, for the multiphoton ionization, the fragmentation process was found to be sensitive to the photoionization order and laser intensity. The "softest" method was found to be two-photon ionization using 4.7 eV light, which led to no measurable fragmentation up to an intensity of 5 × 1012 W cm-2.

Accurate Prediction of Adiabatic Ionization Energies for PAHs and Substituted Analogues

The accurate calculation of adiabatic ionization energies (AIEs) for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their substituted analogues is essential for understanding their electronic properties, reactivity, stability, and environmental/health implications. This study demonstrates that the M06-2X density functional theory method excels in predicting the AIEs of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related molecules, rivaling the (R)CCSD(T)-F12 method in terms of accuracy. These findings suggest that M06-2X, coupled with an appropriate basis set, represents a reliable and efficient method for studying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related molecules, aligning well with the experimental techniques. The set of molecules examined in this work encompasses numerous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from m/z 67 up to m/z 1,176, containing heteroatoms that may be found in biofuels or nucleic acid bases, making the results highly relevant for photoionization experiments and mass spectrometry. For coronene-derivative molecular species with the C6n2H6n chemical formula, we give an expression to predict their AIEs (AIE (n) = 4.359 + 4.8743n-0.72057, in eV) upon extending the π-aromatic cloud until reaching graphene. In the long term, the application of this method is anticipated to contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationships between PAHs and graphene, guiding research in materials science and electronic applications and serving as a valuable tool for validating theoretical calculation methods.

Probing the dynamics of the photo-induced decarboxylation of neutral and ionic pyruvic acid

The dynamics of the electronically excited pyruvic acid (PA) and of its unimolecular decomposition upon single photon ionization are investigated by means of a table top fs laser and VUV...

Unimolecular decomposition of methyl ketene and its dimer in the gas phase: theory and experiment

We present a combined theoretical and experimental investigation on the single photoionization and dissociative photoionization of gas-phase methyl ketene (MKE) and its neutral dimer (MKE2). The performed experiments entail the recording of photoelectron photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectra and slow photoelectron spectra (SPES) in the energy regime 8.7-15.5 eV using linearly polarized synchrotron radiation. We observe both dimerization and trimerization of the monomer which brings about significantly complex and abstruse dissociative ionization patterns. These require the implementation of theoretical calculations to explore the potential energy surfaces of the monomer and dimer's neutral and ionized geometries. To this end, explicitly correlated quantum chemical methodologies involving the coupled cluster with single, double and perturbative triple excitations (R)CCSD(T)-F12 method, are utilized. An improvement in the adiabatic ionization energy of MKE is presented (AIE = 8.937 ± 0.020 eV) as well as appearance energies for multiple fragments formed through dissociative ionization of either the MKE monomer or dimer. In this regard, the synergy of experiment and theory is crucial to interpreting the obtained results. We discuss the potential astrochemical implications of this work in the context of recent advances in the field of astrochemistry and speculate on the potential presence and eventual fate of interstellar MKE molecules.