Sensitivity of photoelectron circular dichroism to structure and electron dynamics in the photoionization of carvone and related chiral monocyclic terpenone enantiomers

Quantum chemistry study on the hyper-Rayleigh scattering optical activity of R-carvone and (1R,5R)-α-pinene

In this work, the HRS-OA circular differential scattering ratios of medium-size chiral molecules, R-carvone and (1R,5R)-α-pinene, has been computed by means of TD-DFT calculations. The results have been discussed as a function of the basis set size. For R-carvone a conformational analysis has been taken into account. In particular, the three most stable conformations of R-carvone present chiral terms that contribute to the HRS-OA circular differential scattering ratio, with opposite signs. Finally, the modified unit sphere representations (mUSR) have been produced for the molecules under study.

Photoelectron Circular Dichroism of Electrosprayed Gramicidin Anions

Many sophisticated approaches for analyzing properties of chiral matter have been developed in recent years. But in general, the available chiroptical methods are limited to either solvated or small gaseous molecules. Studying the chirality of large biopolymers in the gas phase, including aspects of the secondary structure, becomes accessible by combining the electrospray ionization technique with chiroptical detection protocols. Here, laser-induced photodetachment from gramicidin anions, a peptide consisting of 15 amino acids has been investigated. The angular distribution of photoelectrons is demonstrated to be sensitive to the substitution of protons by cesium ions, which is accompanied by a conformational change. The photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) is -0.5% for bare gramicidin, whereas gramicidin with several Cs⁺ ions attached exhibits a PECD of +0.5%. The results are complemented and supported by ion mobility studies. The presented approach offers the prospect of studying chirality and the secondary structure of various biopolymers.

A geometric approach to decoding molecular structure and dynamics from photoionization of isotropic samples

We propose a geometric approach to the description and analysis of photoelectron angular distributions resulting from isotropic samples in the case of few-photon ionization by electric fields of arbitrary polarization. This approach formulates the standard photoionization observables - the b_l,m expansion coefficients of the photoelectron angular distribution, in terms of geometrical properties of the vector field D⃑(k⃑) ≡ 〈k⃑|d⃑|0〉 describing the electronic transition from a bound state |0〉 into a scattering state |k⃑〉 - the photoionization transition dipole. Besides revealing selection rules for the enantio-sensitivity of b_l,m coefficients in multiphoton ionization, our approach yields very compact expressions for both chiral and achiral molecules revealing how the molecular rotational invariants couple to the rotational invariants of the setup defined by the electric field polarization and the arrangement of photoelectron detectors. We apply this approach to one-photon ionization and find that the forward-backward asymmetry parameter b_1,0, emerging exclusively in chiral molecules and encoded in the field B⃑(k⃑) ≡ iD⃑*(k⃑) × D⃑(k⃑), is sensitive only to the components of D⃑(k⃑) perpendicular to k⃑, while the regular asymmetry parameter b_2,0 emerging in chiral and achiral molecules is sensitive only to the component of D⃑(k⃑) parallel to k⃑. Next, we analyze resonantly enhanced two-photon ionization and show that b_0,0 and b_1,0 can be written in terms of an effectively stretched D⃑(k⃑), and how b_1,0 and b_3,0 can be used to probe B⃑(k⃑).

Photoelectron Circular Dichroism in the Photodetachment of Amino Acid Anions

The chirality of chemical compounds is of undisputed importance in science and technology. In particular with respect to pharmacological application most molecules of interest cannot be accessed by the powerful techniques developed in recent years for gas phase analytes. Here, we demonstrate that the combination of electrospray ionization (ESI) with the detection of photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) provides access to chirality information applicable to molecular materials with negligible vapor pressure, for example, amino acids. To this end, glutamic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) have been electrosprayed into the source of a chirality spectrometer, where photodetachment is enforced and the PECD is detected. The technique can be expected to be conceptually applicable to all chemical systems with chirality based on molecular properties.

Conformer-dependent vacuum ultraviolet photodynamics and chiral asymmetries in pure enantiomers of gas phase proline

Proline is a unique amino-acid, with a secondary amine fixed within a pyrrolidine ring providing specific structural properties to proline-rich biopolymers. Gas-phase proline possesses four main H-bond stabilized conformers differing by the ring puckering and carboxylic acid orientation. The latter defines two classes of conformation, whose large ionization energy difference allows a unique conformer-class tagging via electron spectroscopy. Photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) is an intense chiroptical effect sensitive to molecular structures, hence theorized to be highly conformation-dependent. Here, we present experimental evidence of an intense and striking conformer-specific PECD, measured in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization of proline, as well as a conformer-dependent cation fragmentation behavior. This finding, combined with theoretical modeling, allows a refinement of the conformational landscape and energetic ordering, that proves inaccessible to current molecular electronic structure calculations. Additionally, astrochemical implications regarding a possible link of PECD to the origin of life's homochirality are considered in terms of plausible temperature constraints.

Decoupling vibration and electron energy dependencies in the photoelectron circular dichroism of a terpene, 3-carene

A fresh perspective on the interaction of electron and nuclear motions in photon induced dynamical processes can be provided by the coupling of photoelectron angular distributions and cation vibrational states in the photoionization of chiral molecules using circularly polarized radiation. The chiral contributions, manifesting as a forward-backward asymmetry in the photoemission, can be assessed using Photoelectron Circular Dichroism (PECD), which has revealed an enhanced vibrational influence exerted on the outgoing photoelectron. In this paper, we investigate the PECD of a rigid chiral monoterpene, 3-carene, using single-photon vacuum ultraviolet ionization by polarized synchrotron radiation and selecting energies from the ionization threshold up to 19.0 eV. By judicious choice of these photon energies, two factors that influence PECD asymmetry values, electron kinetic energy and ion vibrational level, can be effectively isolated, allowing a clear demonstration of the very marked vibrational effects. A slow photoelectron spectrum is used to examine the vibrational structure of the isolated outermost valence (HOMO) photoelectron band, and peak assignments are made with the aid of a Franck-Condon simulation. Together, these provide an estimate of the adiabatic ionization energy as 8.385 eV. The reported chiral asymmetry from the randomly oriented 3-carene enantiomers reaches a maximum of over 21%. Theoretical PECD calculations, made both for the fixed equilibrium molecular geometry and also modeling selected normal mode vibration effects, are presented to provide further insight.

The axial/equatorial conformational landscape and intramolecular dispersion: new insights from the rotational spectra of monoterpenoids

Using rotational spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations, we show that intramolecular dispersion stabilises the axial conformers of monoterpenoids, and that an accurate account of these interactions is challenging for theoretical methods.

Intense Vibronic Modulation of the Chiral Photoelectron Angular Distribution Generated by Photoionization of Limonene Enantiomers with Circularly Polarized Synchrotron Radiation

Photoionization of the chiral monoterpene limonene has been investigated using polarized synchrotron radiation between the adiabatic ionization threshold, 8.505 and 23.5 eV. A rich vibrational structure is seen in the threshold photoelectron spectrum and is interpreted using a variety of computational methods. The corresponding photoelectron circular dichroism-measured in the photoelectron angular distribution as a forward-backward asymmetry with respect to the photon direction-was found to be strongly dependent on the vibronic structure appearing in the photoelectron spectra, with the observed asymmetry even switching direction in between the major vibrational peaks. This effect can be ultimately attributed to the sensitivity of this dichroism to small phase shifts between adjacent partial waves of the outgoing photoelectron. These observations have implications for potential applications of this chiroptical technique, where the enantioselective analysis of monoterpene components is of particular interest.

VUV photodynamics and chiral asymmetry in the photoionization of gas phase alanine enantiomers

The valence shell photoionization of the simplest proteinaceous chiral amino acid, alanine, is investigated over the vacuum ultraviolet region from its ionization threshold up to 18 eV. Tunable and variable polarization synchrotron radiation was coupled to a double imaging photoelectron/photoion coincidence (i(2)PEPICO) spectrometer to produce mass-selected threshold photoelectron spectra and derive the state-selected fragmentation channels. The photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD), an orbital-sensitive, conformer-dependent chiroptical effect, was also recorded at various photon energies and compared to continuum multiple scattering calculations. Two complementary vaporization methods-aerosol thermodesorption and a resistively heated sample oven coupled to an adiabatic expansion-were applied to promote pure enantiomers of alanine into the gas phase, yielding neutral alanine with different internal energy distributions. A comparison of the photoelectron spectroscopy, fragmentation, and dichroism measured for each of the vaporization methods was rationalized in terms of internal energy and conformer populations and supported by theoretical calculations. The analytical potential of the so-called PECD-PICO detection technique-where the electron spectroscopy and circular dichroism can be obtained as a function of mass and ion translational energy-is underlined and applied to characterize the origin of the various species found in the experimental mass spectra. Finally, the PECD findings are discussed within an astrochemical context, and possible implications regarding the origin of biomolecular asymmetry are identified.

Vibrationally induced inversion of photoelectron forward-backward asymmetry in chiral molecule photoionization by circularly polarized light

Electron-nuclei coupling accompanying excitation and relaxation processes is a fascinating phenomenon in molecular dynamics. A striking and unexpected example of such coupling is presented here in the context of photoelectron circular dichroism measurements on randomly oriented, chiral methyloxirane molecules, unaffected by any continuum resonance. Here, we report that the forward-backward asymmetry in the electron angular distribution, with respect to the photon axis, which is associated with photoelectron circular dichroism can surprisingly reverse direction according to the ion vibrational mode excited. This vibrational dependence represents a clear breakdown of the usual Franck-Condon assumption, ascribed to the enhanced sensitivity of photoelectron circular dichroism (compared with other observables like cross-sections or the conventional anisotropy parameter-β) to the scattering phase off the chiral molecular potential, inducing a dependence on the nuclear geometry sampled in the photoionization process. Important consequences for the interpretation of such dichroism measurements within analytical contexts are discussed.