TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Josefsson, I. A1 - Rajkovic, Ivan A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Weniger, C. A1 - Gruebel, S. A1 - Scholz, M. A1 - Nordlund, D. A1 - Zhang, W. A1 - Hartsock, R. W. A1 - Gaffney, K. J. A1 - Schlotter, W. F. A1 - Turner, J. J. A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Hennies, F. A1 - de Groot, F. M. F. A1 - Techert, S. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Wernet, Ph. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Identification of the dominant photochemical pathways and mechanistic insights to the ultrafast ligand exchange of Fe(CO)(5) to Fe(CO)(4)EtOH JF - Structural dynamics N2 - 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). Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941602 SN - 2329-7778 VL - 3 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Josefsson, Ida A1 - Rajkovic, Ivan A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Grübel, Sebastian A1 - Scholz, Mirko A1 - Nordlund, Dennis A1 - Zhang, Wenkai A1 - Hartsock, Robert W. A1 - Gaffney, Kelly J. A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Turner, Joshua J. A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Anti-Stokes resonant x-ray Raman scattering for atom specific and excited state selective dynamics JF - NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS N2 - Ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics of matter govern rate and selectivity of chemical reactions, as well as phase transitions and efficient switching in functional materials. Since x-rays determine electronic and structural properties with elemental, chemical, orbital and magnetic selectivity, short pulse x-ray sources have become central enablers of ultrafast science. Despite of these strengths, ultrafast x-rays have been poor at picking up excited state moieties from the unexcited ones. With time-resolved anti-Stokes resonant x-ray Raman scattering (AS-RXRS) performed at the LCLS, and ab initio theory we establish background free excited state selectivity in addition to the elemental, chemical, orbital and magnetic selectivity of x-rays. This unparalleled selectivity extracts low concentration excited state species along the pathway of photo induced ligand exchange of Fe(CO)(5) in ethanol. Conceptually a full theoretical treatment of all accessible insights to excited state dynamics with AS-RXRS with transform-limited x-ray pulses is given-which will be covered experimentally by upcoming transform-limited x-ray sources. KW - ultrafast photochemistry KW - excited state selectivity KW - anti-Stokes resonant x-ray raman scattering KW - free electron lasers KW - resonant inelastic x-ray scattering Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/10/103011 SN - 1367-2630 VL - 18 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Zhang, Wenkai A1 - Delcey, Mickael G. A1 - Pinjari, Rahul V. A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Schröder, Henning A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Gaffney, Kelly J. A1 - Lundberg, Marcus A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Wernet, Philippe T1 - Viewing the Valence Electronic Structure of Ferric and Ferrous Hexacyanide in Solution from the Fe and Cyanide Perspectives JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - 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. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b04751 SN - 1520-6106 VL - 120 SP - 7182 EP - 7194 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Sathe, Conny A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Ground state potential energy surfaces around selected atoms from resonant inelastic x-ray scattering JF - Scientific reports N2 - 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. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep20054 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Wernet, Philippe T1 - Isotope effects in liquid water probed by transmission mode x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge JF - The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr N2 - The effects of isotope substitution in liquid water are probed by x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the O K-edge as measured in transmission mode. Confirming earlier x-ray Raman scattering experiments, the D2O spectrum is found to be blue shifted with respect to H2O, and the D2O spectrum to be less broadened. Following the earlier interpretations of UV and x-ray Raman spectra, the shift is related to the difference in ground-state zero-point energies between D2O and H2O, while the difference in broadening is related to the difference in ground-state vibrational zero-point distributions. We demonstrate that the transmission-mode measurements allow for determining the spectral shapes with unprecedented accuracy. Owing in addition to the increased spectral resolution and signal to noise ratio compared to the earlier measurements, the new data enable the stringent determination of blue shift and broadening in the O K-edge x-ray absorption spectrum of liquid water upon isotope substitution. The results are compared to UV absorption data, and it is discussed to which extent they reflect the differences in zero-point energies and vibrational zero-point distributions in the ground-states of the liquids. The influence of the shape of the final-state potential, inclusion of the Franck-Condon structure, and differences between liquid H2O and D2O resulting from different hydrogen-bond environments in the liquids are addressed. The differences between the O K-edge absorption spectra of water from our transmission-mode measurements and from the state-of-the-art x-ray Raman scattering experiments are discussed in addition. The experimentally extracted values of blue shift and broadening are proposed to serve as a test for calculations of ground-state zero-point energies and vibrational zero-point distributions in liquid H2O and D2O. This clearly motivates the need for new calculations of the O K-edge x-ray absorption spectrum of liquid water. Published by AIP Publishing. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4962237 SN - 0021-9606 SN - 1089-7690 VL - 145 SP - 24 EP - 32 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER -