TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Josefsson, I. A1 - Schreck, Simon Frederik A1 - Quevedo, W. A1 - Miedema, P. S. A1 - Techert, S. A1 - de Groot, F. M. F. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Odelius, M. A1 - Wernet, Ph. T1 - Quantifying covalent interactions with resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering BT - case study of Ni2+ aqua complex JF - Chemical physics letters N2 - 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. KW - Transition-metal ion KW - Aqueous solution KW - Covalent interaction KW - Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering KW - Ligand-field state KW - Charge-transfer state Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2016.12.046 SN - 0009-2614 SN - 1873-4448 VL - 669 SP - 196 EP - 201 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leitner, T. A1 - Josefsson, Ida A1 - Mazza, T. A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Schröder, H. A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Schreck, S. A1 - Düsterer, Stefan A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Meyer, M. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Wernet, Philippe T1 - Time-resolved electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis of photodissociation BT - Photoelectron spectra of Fe(CO)(5), Fe(CO)(4), and Fe(CO)(3) JF - The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr N2 - 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. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5035149 SN - 0021-9606 SN - 1089-7690 VL - 149 IS - 4 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - GEN A1 - Jay, Raphael J. A1 - Norell, Jesper A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Lundberg, Marcus A1 - Gaffney, Kelly A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Dynamcis of local charge densities and metal-ligand covalency in iron complexes from femtosecond resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering T2 - Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-370051 SN - 0065-7727 VL - 256 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Josefsson, Ida A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - de Groot, Frank M. F. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - From Ligand Fields to Molecular Orbitals: Probing the Local Valence Electronic Structure of Ni2+ in Aqueous Solution with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - 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. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jp4100813 SN - 1520-6106 VL - 117 IS - 51 SP - 16512 EP - 16521 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Josefsson, Ida A1 - Rajkovic, Ivan A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Gruebel, S. A1 - Scholz, Mirko A1 - Nordlund, Dennis A1 - Zhang, Wenkai A1 - Hartsock, Robert W. A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Turner, Joshua J. A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - de Groot, Frank M. F. A1 - Gaffney, Kelly J. A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Orbital-specific mapping of the ligand exchange dynamics of Fe(CO)(5) in solution JF - Nature : the international weekly journal of science N2 - 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. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14296 SN - 0028-0836 SN - 1476-4687 VL - 520 IS - 7545 SP - 78 EP - 81 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Free-electron laser based resonant inelastic X-ray scattering on molecules and liquids JF - Journal of electron spectroscopy and related phenomena : the international journal on theoretical and experimental aspects of electron spectroscopy N2 - The unprecedented beam properties of free-electron laser based X-ray sources enable novel resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments. Femtosecond time-resolved RIXS can be used to follow charge, spin and structural dynamics of dilute solute molecules in solution. Ultrashort X-ray pulses allow probing of highly radiation sensitive states of matter such as the metastable phase of supercooled liquid water. Nonlinear X-ray probes like amplified spontaneous emission and stimulated resonant X-ray scattering provide an enhanced selectivity and sensitivity as well as a path to control radiation damage and increase the photon yields in RIXS experiments. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Free-electron laser KW - RIXS KW - Pump-probe KW - Nonlinear X-ray spectroscopy KW - Molecules KW - Liquids Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elspec.2015.08.012 SN - 0368-2048 SN - 1873-2526 VL - 204 SP - 345 EP - 355 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Kurian, Reshmi A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - de Groot, Frank M. F. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Dissecting local atomic and intermolecular interactions of transition-metal ions in solution with selective X-ray spectroscopy JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters N2 - Determining covalent and charge-transfer contributions to bonding in solution has remained an experimental challenge. Here, the quenching of fluorescence decay channels as expressed in dips in the L-edge X-ray spectra of solvated 3d transition-metal ions and complexes was reported as a probe. With a full set of experimental and theoretical ab initio L-edge X-ray spectra of aqueous Cr3+, including resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, we address covalency and charge transfer for this prototypical transition-metal ion in solution. We dissect local atomic effects from intermolecular interactions and quantify X-ray optical effects. We find no evidence for the asserted ultrafast charge transfer to the solvent and show that the dips are readily explained by X-ray optical effects and local atomic state dependence of the fluorescence yield. Instead, we find, besides ionic interactions, a covalent contribution to the bonding in the aqueous complex of ligand-to-metal charge-transfer character. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jz301486u SN - 1948-7185 VL - 3 IS - 23 SP - 3448 EP - 3453 PB - American Chemical Society 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 - 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 - 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 -