Spatiotemporal reaction kinetics of an ultrafast photoreaction pathway visualized by time-resolved liquid x-ray diffraction.

ABSTRACT: We have studied the reaction dynamics for HgI(2) in methanol by using time-resolved x-ray diffraction (TRXD). Although numerous time-resolved spectroscopic studies have provided ample information about the early dynamics of HgI(2), a comprehensive reaction mechanism in the solution phase spanning from picoseconds up to microseconds has been lacking. Here we show that TRXD can provide this information directly and quantitatively. Picosecond optical pulses triggered the dissociation of HgI(2), and 100-ps-long x-ray pulses from a synchrotron probed the evolving structures over a wide temporal range. To theoretically explain the diffracted intensities, the structural signal from the solute, the local structure around the solute, and the hydrodynamics of bulk solvents were considered in the ana

SUBMITTER: Kim TK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1478163 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature