@article{WernetLeitnerJosefssonetal.2017, author = {Wernet, Philippe and Leitner, T. and Josefsson, Ida and Mazza, T. and Miedema, P. S. and Schroder, H. and Beye, Martin and Kunnus, K. and Schreck, S. and Radcliffe, P. and Dusterer, S. and Meyer, M. and Odelius, Michael and Fohlisch, Alexander}, title = {Communication: Direct evidence for sequential dissociation of gas-phase Fe(CO)(5) via a singlet pathway upon excitation at 266 nm}, series = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, volume = {146}, journal = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville}, issn = {0021-9606}, doi = {10.1063/1.4984774}, pages = {5}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We prove the hitherto hypothesized sequential dissociation of Fe(CO)(5) in the gas phase upon photoexcitation at 266 nm via a singlet pathway with time-resolved valence and core-level photoelectron spectroscopy with an x-ray free-electron laser. Valence photoelectron spectra are used to identify free CO molecules and to determine the time constants of stepwise dissociation to Fe(CO)(4) within the temporal resolution of the experiment and further to Fe(CO)(3) within 3 ps. Fe 3p core-level photoelectron spectra directly reflect the singlet spin state of the Fe center in Fe(CO)(5), Fe(CO)(4), and Fe(CO)(3) showing that the dissociation exclusively occurs along a singlet pathway without triplet-state contribution. Our results are important for assessing intra- and intermolecular relaxation processes in the photodissociation dynamics of the prototypical Fe(CO)(5) complex in the gas phase and in solution, and they establish time-resolved core-level photoelectron spectroscopy as a powerful tool for determining the multiplicity of transition metals in photochemical reactions of coordination complexes. Published by AIP Publishing.}, language = {en} } @article{KoenneckeFollathPontiusetal.2013, author = {K{\"o}nnecke, Rene and Follath, R. and Pontius, N. and Schlappa, J. and Eggenstein, F. and Zeschke, T. and Bischoff, P. and Schmidt, J. -S. and Noll, T. and Trabant, C. and Schreck, S. and Wernet, Ph. and Eisebitt, S. and Senf, F. and Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian and Erko, A. and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander}, title = {The confocal plane grating spectrometer at BESSY II}, series = {Journal of electron spectroscopy and related phenomena : the international journal on theoretical and experimental aspects of electron spectroscopy}, volume = {188}, journal = {Journal of electron spectroscopy and related phenomena : the international journal on theoretical and experimental aspects of electron spectroscopy}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0368-2048}, doi = {10.1016/j.elspec.2012.11.003}, pages = {133 -- 139}, year = {2013}, abstract = {At BESSY II a confocal plane grating spectrometer for resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is currently under commissioning. The new endstation operates with a source size of 4 x 1 mu m(2) provided by its dedicated beamline. The RIXS-spectrometer covers an energy range from 50 eV to 1000 eV, providing a resolving power E/Delta E of 5000-15,000. The beamline allows full polarization control and gives a photon flux of up to 7 x 10(14) photons/s/0.1 A/0.1\%bandwidth by offering a resolving power E/Delta E of 4000-12,000.}, language = {en} } @article{KunnusJosefssonSchrecketal.2017, author = {Kunnus, Kristjan and Josefsson, I. and Schreck, Simon Frederik and Quevedo, W. and Miedema, P. S. and Techert, S. and de Groot, F. M. F. and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander and Odelius, M. and Wernet, Ph.}, title = {Quantifying covalent interactions with resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering}, series = {Chemical physics letters}, volume = {669}, journal = {Chemical physics letters}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0009-2614}, doi = {10.1016/j.cplett.2016.12.046}, pages = {196 -- 201}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We analyze the effects of covalent interactions in Ni 2p3d resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra from aqueous Ni2+ ions and find that the relative RIXS intensities of ligand-to-metal charge-transfer final states with respect to the ligand-field final states reflect the covalent mixing between Ni 3d and water orbitals. Specifically, the experimental intensity ratio at the Ni L-3-edge allows to determine that the Ni 3d orbitals have on average 5.5\% of water character. We propose that 2p3d RIXS at the Ni L-3-edge can be utilized to quantify covalency in Ni complexes without the use of external references or simulations.}, language = {en} } @article{LeitnerJosefssonMazzaetal.2018, author = {Leitner, T. and Josefsson, Ida and Mazza, T. and Miedema, Piter S. and Schr{\"o}der, H. and Beye, Martin and Kunnus, Kristjan and Schreck, S. and D{\"u}sterer, Stefan and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander and Meyer, M. and Odelius, Michael and Wernet, Philippe}, title = {Time-resolved electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis of photodissociation}, series = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, volume = {149}, journal = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr}, number = {4}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville}, issn = {0021-9606}, doi = {10.1063/1.5035149}, pages = {12}, year = {2018}, abstract = {The prototypical photoinduced dissociation of Fe(CO)(5) in the gas phase is used to test time-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for studying photochemical reactions. Upon one-photon excitation at 266 nm, Fe(CO)(5) successively dissociates to Fe(CO)(4) and Fe(CO)(3) along a pathway where both fragments retain the singlet multiplicity of Fe(CO)(5). The x-ray free-electron laser FLASH is used to probe the reaction intermediates Fe(CO)(4) and Fe(CO)(3) with time-resolved valence and core-level photoelectron spectroscopy, and experimental results are interpreted with ab initio quantum chemical calculations. Changes in the valence photoelectron spectra are shown to reflect changes in the valenceorbital interactions upon Fe-CO dissociation, thereby validating fundamental theoretical concepts in Fe-CO bonding. Chemical shifts of CO 3 sigma inner-valence and Fe 3 sigma core-level binding energies are shown to correlate with changes in the coordination number of the Fe center. We interpret this with coordination-dependent charge localization and core-hole screening based on calculated changes in electron densities upon core-hole creation in the final ionic states. This extends the established capabilities of steady-state electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis to time-resolved investigations. It could also serve as a benchmark for howcharge and spin density changes in molecular dissociation and excited-state dynamics are expressed in valence and core-level photoelectron spectroscopy. Published by AIP Publishing.}, language = {en} } @article{KunnusJosefssonRajkovicetal.2016, author = {Kunnus, Kristjan and Josefsson, I. and Rajkovic, Ivan and Schreck, Simon and Quevedo, Wilson and Beye, Martin and Weniger, C. and Gruebel, S. and Scholz, M. and Nordlund, D. and Zhang, W. and Hartsock, R. W. and Gaffney, K. J. and Schlotter, W. F. and Turner, J. J. and Kennedy, B. and Hennies, F. and de Groot, F. M. F. and Techert, S. and Odelius, Michael and Wernet, Ph. and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander}, title = {Identification of the dominant photochemical pathways and mechanistic insights to the ultrafast ligand exchange of Fe(CO)(5) to Fe(CO)(4)EtOH}, series = {Structural dynamics}, volume = {3}, journal = {Structural dynamics}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Washington}, issn = {2329-7778}, doi = {10.1063/1.4941602}, pages = {16}, year = {2016}, abstract = {We utilized femtosecond time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and ab initio theory to study the transient electronic structure and the photoinduced molecular dynamics of a model metal carbonyl photocatalyst Fe(CO)(5) in ethanol solution. We propose mechanistic explanation for the parallel ultrafast intra-molecular spin crossover and ligation of the Fe(CO)(4) which are observed following a charge transfer photoexcitation of Fe(CO)(5) as reported in our previous study [ Wernet et al., Nature 520, 78 (2015)]. We find that branching of the reaction pathway likely happens in the (1)A(1) state of Fe(CO)(4). A sub-picosecond time constant of the spin crossover from B-1(2) to B-3(2) is rationalized by the proposed B-1(2) -> (1)A(1) -> B-3(2) mechanism. Ultrafast ligation of the B-1(2) Fe(CO)(4) state is significantly faster than the spin-forbidden and diffusion limited ligation process occurring from the B-3(2) Fe(CO)(4) ground state that has been observed in the previous studies. We propose that the ultrafast ligation occurs via B-1(2) -> (1)A(1) -> (1)A'Fe(CO)(4)EtOH pathway and the time scale of the (1)A(1) Fe(CO)(4) state ligation is governed by the solute-solvent collision frequency. Our study emphasizes the importance of understanding the interaction of molecular excited states with the surrounding environment to explain the relaxation pathways of photoexcited metal carbonyls in solution. (C) 2016 Author(s).}, language = {en} } @article{KunnusJosefssonSchrecketal.2013, author = {Kunnus, Kristjan and Josefsson, Ida and Schreck, Simon and Quevedo, Wilson and Miedema, Piter S. and Techert, Simone and de Groot, Frank M. F. and Odelius, Michael and Wernet, Philippe and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander}, title = {From Ligand Fields to Molecular Orbitals: Probing the Local Valence Electronic Structure of Ni2+ in Aqueous Solution with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering}, series = {The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces \& biophysical chemistry}, volume = {117}, journal = {The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces \& biophysical chemistry}, number = {51}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1520-6106}, doi = {10.1021/jp4100813}, pages = {16512 -- 16521}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Bonding of the Ni2+(aq) complex is investigated with an unprecedented combination of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements and ab initio calculations at the Ni L absorption edge. The spectra directly reflect the relative energies of the ligand-field and charge-transfer valence-excited states. They give element-specific access with atomic resolution to the ground-state electronic structure of the complex and allow quantification of ligand-field strength and 3d-3d electron correlation interactions in the Ni2+(aq) complex. The experimentally determined ligand-field strength is 10Dq = 1.1 eV. This and the Racah parameters characterizing 3d-3d Coulomb interactions B = 0.13 eV and C = 0.42 eV as readily derived from the measured energies match very well with the results from UV-vis spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate how L-edge RIXS can be used to complement existing spectroscopic tools for the investigation of bonding in 3d transition-metal coordination compounds in solution. The ab initio RASPT2 calculation is successfully used to simulate the L-edge RIXS spectra.}, language = {en} } @article{BeyeSchreckSorgenfreietal.2013, author = {Beye, Martin and Schreck, S. and Sorgenfrei, Florian and Trabant, C. and Pontius, N. and Sch{\"u}ßler-Langeheine, C. and Wurth, W. and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander}, title = {Stimulated X-ray emission for materials science}, series = {Nature : the international weekly journal of science}, volume = {501}, journal = {Nature : the international weekly journal of science}, number = {7466}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {0028-0836}, doi = {10.1038/nature12449}, pages = {191 -- +}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and X-ray emission spectroscopy can be used to probe the energy and dispersion of the elementary low-energy excitations that govern functionality in matter: vibronic, charge, spin and orbital excitations(1-7). A key drawback of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering has been the need for high photon densities to compensate for fluorescence yields of less than a per cent for soft X-rays(8). Sample damage from the dominant non-radiative decays thus limits the materials to which such techniques can be applied and the spectral resolution that can be obtained. A means of improving the yield is therefore highly desirable. Here we demonstrate stimulated X-ray emission for crystalline silicon at photon densities that are easily achievable with free-electron lasers(9). The stimulated radiative decay of core excited species at the expense of non-radiative processes reduces sample damage and permits narrow-bandwidth detection in the directed beam of stimulated radiation. We deduce how stimulated X-ray emission can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude to provide, with high yield and reduced sample damage, a superior probe for low-energy excitations and their dispersion in matter. This is the first step to bringing nonlinear X-ray physics in the condensed phase from theory(10-16) to application.}, language = {en} } @article{WernetKunnusJosefssonetal.2015, author = {Wernet, Philippe and Kunnus, Kristjan and Josefsson, Ida and Rajkovic, Ivan and Quevedo, Wilson and Beye, Martin and Schreck, Simon and Gruebel, S. and Scholz, Mirko and Nordlund, Dennis and Zhang, Wenkai and Hartsock, Robert W. and Schlotter, William F. and Turner, Joshua J. and Kennedy, Brian and Hennies, Franz and de Groot, Frank M. F. and Gaffney, Kelly J. and Techert, Simone and Odelius, Michael and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander}, title = {Orbital-specific mapping of the ligand exchange dynamics of Fe(CO)(5) in solution}, series = {Nature : the international weekly journal of science}, volume = {520}, journal = {Nature : the international weekly journal of science}, number = {7545}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {0028-0836}, doi = {10.1038/nature14296}, pages = {78 -- 81}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Transition-metal complexes have long attracted interest for fundamental chemical reactivity studies and possible use in solar energy conversion(1,2). Electronic excitation, ligand loss from the metal centre, or a combination of both, creates changes in charge and spin density at the metal site(3-11) that need to be controlled to optimize complexes for photocatalytic hydrogen production(8) and selective carbon-hydrogen bond activation(9-11). An understanding at the molecular level of how transition-metal complexes catalyse reactions, and in particular of the role of the short-lived and reactive intermediate states involved, will be critical for such optimization. However, suitable methods for detailed characterization of electronic excited states have been lacking. Here we show, with the use of X-ray laser-based femtosecond-resolution spectroscopy and advanced quantum chemical theory to probe the reaction dynamics of the benchmark transition-metal complex Fe(CO)(5) in solution, that the photo-induced removal of CO generates the 16-electron Fe(CO)(4) species, a homogeneous catalyst(12,13) with an electron deficiency at the Fe centre(14,15), in a hitherto unreported excited singlet state that either converts to the triplet ground state or combines with a CO or solvent molecule to regenerate a penta-coordinated Fe species on a sub-picosecond timescale. This finding, which resolves the debate about the relative importance of different spin channels in the photochemistry of Fe(CO)(5) (refs 4, 16-20), was made possible by the ability of femtosecond X-ray spectroscopy to probe frontier-orbital interactions with atom specificity. We expect the method to be broadly applicable in the chemical sciences, and to complement approaches that probe structural dynamics in ultrafast processes.}, language = {en} } @article{KunnusZhangDelceyetal.2016, author = {Kunnus, Kristjan and Zhang, Wenkai and Delcey, Mickael G. and Pinjari, Rahul V. and Miedema, Piter S. and Schreck, Simon and Quevedo, Wilson and Schr{\"o}der, Henning and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander and Gaffney, Kelly J. and Lundberg, Marcus and Odelius, Michael and Wernet, Philippe}, title = {Viewing the Valence Electronic Structure of Ferric and Ferrous Hexacyanide in Solution from the Fe and Cyanide Perspectives}, series = {The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces \& biophysical chemistry}, volume = {120}, journal = {The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces \& biophysical chemistry}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1520-6106}, doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b04751}, pages = {7182 -- 7194}, year = {2016}, abstract = {The valence-excited states of ferric and ferrous hexacyanide ions in aqueous solution were mapped by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Fe L-2,L-3 and N K edges. Probing of both the central Fe and the ligand N atoms enabled identification of the metal-and ligand-centered excited states, as well as ligand-to-metal and metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excited states. Ab initio calculations utilizing the RASPT2 method were used to simulate the Fe L-2,L-3-edge RIXS spectra and enabled quantification of the covalencies of both occupied and empty orbitals of pi and sigma symmetry. We found that pi back-donation in the ferric complex is smaller than that in the ferrous complex. This is evidenced by the relative amounts of Fe 3d character in the nominally 2 pi CN- molecular orbital of 7\% and 9\% in ferric and ferrous hexacyanide, respectively. Utilizing the direct sensitivity of Fe L-3-edge RIXS to the Fe 3d character in the occupied molecular orbitals, we also found that the donation interactions are dominated by sigma bonding. The latter was found to be stronger in the ferric complex, with an Fe 3d contribution to the nominally 5 sigma CN- molecular orbitals of 29\% compared to 20\% in the ferrous complex. These results are consistent with the notion that a higher charge at the central metal atom increases donation and decreases back-donation.}, language = {en} } @article{MitznerRehanekKernetal.2013, author = {Mitzner, Rolf and Rehanek, Jens and Kern, Jan and Gul, Sheraz and Hattne, Johan and Taguchi, Taketo and Alonso-Mori, Roberto and Tran, Rosalie and Weniger, Christian and Schr{\"o}der, Henning and Quevedo, Wilson and Laksmono, Hartawan and Sierra, Raymond G. and Han, Guangye and Lassalle-Kaiser, Benedikt and Koroidov, Sergey and Kubicek, Katharina and Schreck, Simon and Kunnus, Kristjan and Brzhezinskaya, Maria and Firsov, Alexander and Minitti, Michael P. and Turner, Joshua J. and M{\"o}ller, Stefan and Sauter, Nicholas K. and Bogan, Michael J. and Nordlund, Dennis and Schlotter, William F. and Messinger, Johannes and Borovik, Andrew S. and Techert, Simone and de Groot, Frank M. F. and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander and Erko, Alexei and Bergmann, Uwe and Yachandra, Vittal K. and Wernet, Philippe and Yano, Junko}, title = {L-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy of dilute systems relevant to metalloproteins using an X-ray free-electron laser}, series = {The journal of physical chemistry letters}, volume = {4}, journal = {The journal of physical chemistry letters}, number = {21}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1948-7185}, doi = {10.1021/jz401837f}, pages = {3641 -- 3647}, year = {2013}, abstract = {L-edge spectroscopy of 3d transition metals provides important electronic structure information and has been used in many fields. However, the use of this method for studying dilute aqueous systems, such as metalloenzymes, has not been prevalent because of severe radiation damage and the lack of suitable detection systems. Here we present spectra from a dilute Mn aqueous solution using a high-transmission zone-plate spectrometer at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). The spectrometer has been optimized for discriminating the Mn L-edge signal from the overwhelming 0 K-edge background that arises from water and protein itself, and the ultrashort LCLS X-ray pulses can outrun X-ray induced damage. We show that the deviations of the partial-fluorescence yield-detected spectra from the true absorption can be well modeled using the state-dependence of the fluorescence yield, and discuss implications for the application of our concept to biological samples.}, language = {en} } @article{SchreckPietzschKunnusetal.2014, author = {Schreck, Simon and Pietzsch, Annette and Kunnus, Kristjan and Kennedy, Brian and Quevedo, Wilson and Miedema, Piter S. and Wernet, Philippe and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander}, title = {Dynamics of the OH group and the electronic structure of liquid alcohols}, series = {Structural dynamics}, volume = {1}, journal = {Structural dynamics}, number = {5}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville}, issn = {2329-7778}, doi = {10.1063/1.4897981}, pages = {14}, year = {2014}, abstract = {In resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) from molecular and liquid systems, the interplay of ground state structural and core-excited state dynamical contributions leads to complex spectral shapes that partially allow for ambiguous interpretations. In this work, we dissect these contributions in oxygen K-edge RIXS from liquid alcohols. We use the scattering into the electronic ground state as an accurate measure of nuclear dynamics in the intermediate core-excited state of the RIXS process. We determine the characteristic time in the core-excited state until nuclear dynamics give a measurable contribution to the RIXS spectral profiles to tau(dyn) = 1.2 +/- 0.8 fs. By detuning the excitation energy below the absorption resonance we reduce the effective scattering time below sdyn, and hence suppress these dynamical contributions to a minimum. From the corresponding RIXS spectra of liquid methanol, we retrieve the "dynamic-free" density of states and find that it is described solely by the electronic states of the free methanol molecule. From this and from the comparison of normal and deuterated methanol, we conclude that the split peak structure found in the lone-pair emission region at non-resonant excitation originates from dynamics in the O-H bond in the core-excited state. We find no evidence that this split peak feature is a signature of distinct ground state structural complexes in liquid methanol. However, we demonstrate how changes in the hydrogen bond coordination within the series of linear alcohols from methanol to hexanol affect the split peak structure in the liquid alcohols. (C) 2014 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.}, language = {en} } @article{SchreckPietzschKennedyetal.2016, author = {Schreck, Simon and Pietzsch, Annette and Kennedy, Brian and Sathe, Conny and Miedema, Piter S. and Techert, Simone and Strocov, Vladimir N. and Schmitt, Thorsten and Hennies, Franz and Rubensson, Jan-Erik and F{\"o}hlisch, Alexander}, title = {Ground state potential energy surfaces around selected atoms from resonant inelastic x-ray scattering}, series = {Scientific reports}, volume = {6}, journal = {Scientific reports}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/srep20054}, pages = {7}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Thermally driven chemistry as well as materials' functionality are determined by the potential energy surface of a systems electronic ground state. This makes the potential energy surface a central and powerful concept in physics, chemistry and materials science. However, direct experimental access to the potential energy surface locally around atomic centers and to its long-range structure are lacking. Here we demonstrate how sub-natural linewidth resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering at vibrational resolution is utilized to determine ground state potential energy surfaces locally and detect long-range changes of the potentials that are driven by local modifications. We show how the general concept is applicable not only to small isolated molecules such as O2 but also to strongly interacting systems such as the hydrogen bond network in liquid water. The weak perturbation to the potential energy surface through hydrogen bonding is observed as a trend towards softening of the ground state potential around the coordinating atom. The instrumental developments in high resolution resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering are currently accelerating and will enable broad application of the presented approach. With this multidimensional potential energy surfaces that characterize collective phenomena such as (bio)molecular function or high-temperature superconductivity will become accessible in near future.}, language = {en} }