Mapping static core-holes and ring-currents with X-ray scattering

Ultrafast Molecular Frame Quantum Tomography

We develop and experimentally demonstrate a methodology for a full molecular frame quantum tomography (MFQT) of dynamical polyatomic systems. We exemplify this approach through the complete characterization of an electronically nonadiabatic wave packet in ammonia (NH_{3}). The method exploits both energy and time-domain spectroscopic data, and yields the lab frame density matrix (LFDM) for the system, the elements of which are populations and coherences. The LFDM fully characterizes electronic and nuclear dynamics in the molecular frame, yielding the time- and orientation-angle dependent expectation values of any relevant operator. For example, the time-dependent molecular frame electronic probability density may be constructed, yielding information on electronic dynamics in the molecular frame. In NH_{3}, we observe that electronic coherences are induced by nuclear dynamics which nonadiabatically drive electronic motions (charge migration) in the molecular frame. Here, the nuclear dynamics are rotational and it is nonadiabatic Coriolis coupling which drives the coherences. Interestingly, the nuclear-driven electronic coherence is preserved over longer timescales. In general, MFQT can help quantify entanglement between electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom, and provide new routes to the study of ultrafast molecular dynamics, charge migration, quantum information processing, and optimal control schemes.

Mapping the photochemistry of cyclopentadiene: from theory to ultrafast X-ray scattering

The photoinduced ring-conversion reaction when cyclopentadiene (CP) is excited at 5.10 eV is simulated using surface-hopping semiclassical trajectories with XMS(3)-CASPT2(4,4)/cc-pVDZ electronic structure theory. In addition, PBE0/def2-SV(P) is employed for ground state propagation of the trajectories. The dynamics is propagated for 10 ps, mapping both the nonadiabatic short-time dynamics (<300 fs) and the increasingly statistical dynamics on the electronic ground state. The short-time dynamics yields a mixture of hot CP and bicyclo[2.1.0]pentene (BP), with the two products reached via different regions of the same conical intersection seam. On the ground state, we observe slow conversion from BP to CP which is modelled by RRKM theory with a transition state determined using PBE0/def2-TZVP. The CP products are furthermore associated with ground state hydrogen shifts and some H-atom dissociation. Finally, the prospects for detailed experimental mapping using novel ultrafast X-ray scattering experiments are discussed and observables for such experiments are predicted. In particular, we assess the possibility of retrieving electronic states and their populations alongside the structural dynamics.

Novel Ultrafast Molecular Imaging Based on the Combination of X-ray and Electron Diffraction

Recent development of X-ray free-electron lasers and megaelectronvolt radio-frequency electron guns have made ultrafast X-ray and electron diffraction measurements possible, thereby capturing chemical dynamics with atomic-spatial and femtosecond-temporal resolutions. We present a unified formulation of standard homodyne-detected and heterodyne-detected signals for both techniques. Noting that X-rays scatter from molecular electrons while electrons scatter from both molecular electrons and nuclei, we show how the two diffraction signals can be combined to reveal novel chemical information that is unavailable by solely using each technique alone. By subtracting the homodyne-detected X-ray and electron diffraction signals, a mixed electronic-nuclear interference in electron diffraction can be identified with a self-heterodyne nature for the direct imaging of attosecond electron dynamics where the scattering off molecular nuclei serves as a local oscillator for the scattering off molecular electrons. By subtracting heterodyne-detected X-ray and electron diffraction, the purely nuclear charge density can be singled out.

Probing Electronic Symmetry Reduction during Charge Migration via Time-Resolved X-Ray Diffraction

The present work focuses on probing ultrafast charge migration after symmetry-breaking excitation using ultrashort laser pulses. LiCN is chosen as prototypical system because it can be oriented in the laboratory frame and it possesses optically-accessible charge transfer states at low energies. The charge migration is simulated within the hybrid time-dependent density functional theory/configuration interaction framework. Time-resolved electronic current densities and simulated time-resolved x-ray diffraction signals are used to unravel the mechanism of charge migration. Our simulations demonstrate that specific choices of laser polarization lead to a control over the symmetry of the induced charge migration. Moreover, time-resolved x-ray diffraction signals are shown to encode transient symmetry reduction at intermediate times.

A Review on The Medicinal And Industrial Applications of N-Containing Heterocycles

Nitrogen-containing heterocycles constitute an important division of organic chemistry. The structural and functional diversity in nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds emanates from the presence and nature of the heteroatom that optimizes the compound for a specific application. Nitrogen heterocycles have been found to mimic various endogenous metabolites and natural products, highlighting their pivotal role in current drug design. Their applications are manifold and are predominantly used as pharmaceuticals, corrosion inhibitors, polymers, agrochemicals, dyes, developers, etc. Additionally, their catalytic behavior has rendered these compounds notable precursors in synthesizing various important organic compounds. The rate at which nitrogen heterocycles are synthesized explains this organic chemistry domain's vitality and usefulness. The present review article focuses on nitrogen-containing heterocycles as a versatile scaffold for current applications of organic chemistry.

A laboratory frame density matrix for ultrafast quantum molecular dynamics

In most cases, the ultrafast dynamics of resonantly excited molecules are considered and almost always computed in the molecular frame, while experiments are carried out in the laboratory frame. Here, we provide a formalism in terms of a lab frame density matrix, which connects quantum dynamics in the molecular frame to those in the laboratory frame, providing a transparent link between computation and measurement. The formalism reveals that in any such experiment, the molecular frame dynamics vary for molecules in different orientations and that certain coherences, which are potentially experimentally accessible, are rejected by the orientation-averaged reduced vibronic density matrix. Instead, molecular angular distribution moments are introduced as a more accurate representation of experimentally accessible information. Furthermore, the formalism provides a clear definition of a molecular frame quantum tomography and specifies the requirements to perform such a measurement enabling the experimental imaging of molecular frame vibronic dynamics. Successful completion of such a measurement fully characterizes the molecular frame quantum dynamics for a molecule at any orientation in the laboratory frame.

Ultrafast Imaging of Molecules with Electron Diffraction

Photoexcited molecules convert light into chemical and mechanical energy through changes in electronic and nuclear structure that take place on femtosecond timescales. Gas phase ultrafast electron diffraction (GUED) is an ideal tool to probe the nuclear geometry evolution of the molecules and complements spectroscopic methods that are mostly sensitive to the electronic state. GUED is a passive probing tool that does not alter the molecular properties during the probing process and is sensitive to the spatial distribution of charge in the molecule, including both electrons and nuclei. Improvements in temporal resolution have enabled GUED to capture coherent nuclear motions in molecules in the excited and ground electronic states with femtosecond and subangstrom resolution. Here we present the basic theory of GUED and explain what information is encoded in the diffraction signal, review how GUED has been used to observe coherent structural dynamics in recent experiments, and discuss the advantages and limitations of the method. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Volume 73 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Ultrafast Valence-Electron Dynamics in Oxazole Monitored by X-ray Diffraction Following a Stimulated X-ray Raman Excitation

Direct imaging of the ultrafast quantum motion of valence electrons in molecules is essential for understanding many elementary chemical and physical processes. We present a simulation study of valence-electron dynamics of oxazole. A valence-state electronic wavepacket is prepared with an attosecond soft X-ray pulse through a stimulated resonant X-ray Raman process and then probed with time-resolved off-resonant single-molecule X-ray diffraction. We find that the time dependent diffraction signal originates solely from the electronic coherences and can be detected by existing experimental techniques. We thus provide a feasible way of imaging electron dynamics in molecules. Moreover, the created electronic coherences and subsequent electron dynamics can be manipulated by the resonant X-ray Raman excitation tuned to different core-excited states.