Absence of Triplets in Single-Photon Double Ionization of Methanol.

ABSTRACT: Despite the abundance of data concerning single-photon double ionization of methanol, the spin state of the emitted electron pair has never been determined. Here we present the first evidence that identifies the emitted electron pair spin as overwhelmingly singlet when the dication forms in low-energy configurations. The experimental data show that while the yield of the CH₂O⁺ + H₃⁺ Coulomb explosion channel is abundant, the metastable methanol dication is largely absent. According to high-level ab initio simulations, these facts indicate that photoionization promptly forms singlet dication states, where they quickly decompose through various channels, with significant H₃⁺ yields on the low-lying states. In contrast, if we a

SUBMITTER: Gope K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7595352 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature