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 - INPR A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - de Groot, F. M. F. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - Wernet, P. T1 - Comment on "state-dependent electron delocalization dynamics at the solute-solvent interface: soft-x-ray absorption spectroscopy and lambda b initio calculations" T2 - Physical review letters Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.129302 SN - 0031-9007 SN - 1079-7114 VL - 112 IS - 12 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park 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 - Yin, Zhong A1 - Rajkovic, Ivan A1 - Veedu, Sreevidya Thekku A1 - Deinert, Sascha A1 - Raiser, Dirk A1 - Jain, Rohit A1 - Fukuzawa, Hironobu A1 - Wada, Shin-ichi A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Ueda, Kyoshi A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Techert, Simone T1 - Ionic solutions probed by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering JF - Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie : international journal of research in physical chemistry and chemical physics N2 - X-ray spectroscopy is a powerful tool to study the local charge distribution of chemical systems. Together with the liquid jet it becomes possible to probe chemical systems in their natural environment, the liquid phase. In this work, we present X-ray absorption (XA), X-ray emission (XE) and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) data of pure water and various salt solutions and show the possibilities these methods offer to elucidate the nature of ion-water interaction. KW - X-ray Spectroscopy KW - XAS KW - XES KW - RIXS KW - Anions KW - Cations KW - Liquid Jet KW - Synchrotron Radiation Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/zpch-2015-0610 SN - 0942-9352 VL - 229 IS - 10-12 SP - 1855 EP - 1867 PB - De Gruyter CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mitzner, Rolf A1 - Rehanek, Jens A1 - Kern, Jan A1 - Gul, Sheraz A1 - Hattne, Johan A1 - Taguchi, Taketo A1 - Alonso-Mori, Roberto A1 - Tran, Rosalie A1 - Weniger, Christian A1 - Schröder, Henning A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Laksmono, Hartawan A1 - Sierra, Raymond G. A1 - Han, Guangye A1 - Lassalle-Kaiser, Benedikt A1 - Koroidov, Sergey A1 - Kubicek, Katharina A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Brzhezinskaya, Maria A1 - Firsov, Alexander A1 - Minitti, Michael P. A1 - Turner, Joshua J. A1 - Möller, Stefan A1 - Sauter, Nicholas K. A1 - Bogan, Michael J. A1 - Nordlund, Dennis A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Messinger, Johannes A1 - Borovik, Andrew S. A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - de Groot, Frank M. F. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Erko, Alexei A1 - Bergmann, Uwe A1 - Yachandra, Vittal K. A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Yano, Junko T1 - L-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy of dilute systems relevant to metalloproteins using an X-ray free-electron laser JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters N2 - 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. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jz401837f SN - 1948-7185 VL - 4 IS - 21 SP - 3641 EP - 3647 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yin, Zhong A1 - Rajkovic, Ivan A1 - Kubicek, Katharina A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Techert, Simone T1 - Probing the Hofmeister effect with ultrafast core-hole spectroscopy JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - In the current work, X-ray emission spectra of aqueous solutions of different inorganic salts within the Hofmeister series are presented. The results reflect the direct interaction of the ions with the water molecules and therefore, reveal general properties of the salt-water interactions. Within the experimental precision a significant effect of the ions on the water structure has been observed but no ordering according to the structure maker/structure breaker concept could be mirrored in the results indicating that the Hofmeister effect if existent may be caused by more complex interactions. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jp504577a SN - 1520-6106 VL - 118 IS - 31 SP - 9398 EP - 9403 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yin, Zhong A1 - Inhester, Ludger A1 - Veedu, Sreevidya Thekku A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Groenhof, Gerrit A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Grubmueller, Helmut A1 - Techert, Simone T1 - Cationic and Anionic Impact on the Electronic Structure of Liquid Water JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters N2 - Hydration shells around ions are crucial for many fundamental biological and chemical processes. Their local physicochemical properties are quite different from those of bulk water and hard to probe experimentally. We address this problem by combining soft X-ray spectroscopy using a liquid jet and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations together with ab initio electronic structure calculations to elucidate the water ion interaction in a MgCl2 solution at the molecular level. Our results reveal that salt ions mainly affect the electronic properties of water molecules in close vicinity and that the oxygen K-edge X-ray emission spectrum of water molecules in the first solvation shell differs significantly from that of bulk water. Ion-specific effects are identified by fingerprint features in the water X-ray emission spectra. While Mg2+ ions cause a bathochromic shift of the water lone pair orbital, the 3p orbital of the Cl- ions causes an additional peak in the water emission spectrum at around 528 eV. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b01392 SN - 1948-7185 VL - 8 SP - 3759 EP - 3764 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 - Sellberg, Jonas A. A1 - McQueen, Trevor A. A1 - Laksmono, Hartawan A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - DePonte, Daniel P. A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Nordlund, Dennis A1 - Sierra, Raymond G. A1 - Schlesinger, Daniel A1 - Tokushima, Takashi A1 - Zhovtobriukh, Iurii A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Segtnan, Vegard H. A1 - Ogasawara, Hirohito A1 - Kubicek, Katharina A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - Bergmann, Uwe A1 - Dakovski, Georgi L. A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Harada, Yoshihisa A1 - Bogan, Michael J. A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Pettersson, Lars G. M. A1 - Nilsson, Anders T1 - X-ray emission spectroscopy of bulk liquid water in "no-man's land" JF - The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr N2 - The structure of bulk liquid water was recently probed by x-ray scattering below the temperature limit of homogeneous nucleation (T-H) of similar to 232 K [J. A. Sellberg et al., Nature 510, 381-384 (2014)]. Here, we utilize a similar approach to study the structure of bulk liquid water below T-H using oxygen K-edge x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). Based on previous XES experiments [T. Tokushima et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 460, 387-400 (2008)] at higher temperatures, we expected the ratio of the 1b(1)' and 1b(1)" peaks associated with the lone-pair orbital in water to change strongly upon deep supercooling as the coordination of the hydrogen (H-) bonds becomes tetrahedral. In contrast, we observed only minor changes in the lone-pair spectral region, challenging an interpretation in terms of two interconverting species. A number of alternative hypotheses to explain the results are put forward and discussed. Although the spectra can be explained by various contributions from these hypotheses, we here emphasize the interpretation that the line shape of each component changes dramatically when approaching lower temperatures, where, in particular, the peak assigned to the proposed disordered component would become more symmetrical as vibrational interference becomes more important. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905603 SN - 0021-9606 SN - 1089-7690 VL - 142 IS - 4 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Rajkovic, Ivan A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Suljoti, Edlira A1 - Weniger, Christian A1 - Kalus, Christian A1 - Gruebel, 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 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - A setup for resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering on liquids at free electron laser light sources JF - Review of scientific instruments : a monthly journal devoted to scientific instruments, apparatus, and techniques N2 - We present a flexible and compact experimental setup that combines an in vacuum liquid jet with an x-ray emission spectrometer to enable static and femtosecond time-resolved resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements from liquids at free electron laser (FEL) light sources. We demonstrate the feasibility of this type of experiments with the measurements performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source FEL facility. At the FEL we observed changes in the RIXS spectra at high peak fluences which currently sets a limit to maximum attainable count rate at FELs. The setup presented here opens up new possibilities to study the structure and dynamics in liquids. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4772685 SN - 0034-6748 VL - 83 IS - 12 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jay, Raphael M. A1 - Norell, Jesper A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Hantschmann, Markus A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Dakovski, Georgi L. A1 - Minitti, Michael P. A1 - Hoffmann, Matthias C. A1 - Mitra, Ankush A1 - Moeller, Stefan P. A1 - Nordlund, Dennis A1 - Zhang, Wenkai A1 - Liang, Huiyang W. A1 - Kunnus, Kristian A1 - Kubicek, Katharina A1 - Techert, Simone A. A1 - Lundberg, Marcus A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Gaffney, Kelly A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Disentangling Transient Charge Density and Metal-Ligand Covalency in Photoexcited Ferricyanide with Femtosecond Resonant Inelastic Soft X-ray Scattering JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters N2 - Soft X-ray spectroscopies are ideal probes of the local valence electronic structure of photocatalytically active metal sites. Here, we apply the selectivity of time resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the iron L-edge to the transient charge distribution of an optically excited charge-transfer state in aqueous ferricyanide. Through comparison to steady-state spectra and quantum chemical calculations, the coupled effects of valence-shell closing and ligand-hole creation are experimentally and theoretically disentangled and described in terms of orbital occupancy, metal-ligand covalency, and ligand field splitting, thereby extending established steady-state concepts to the excited-state domain. pi-Back-donation is found to be mainly determined by the metal site occupation, whereas the ligand hole instead influences sigma-donation. Our results demonstrate how ultrafast resonant inelastic X-ray scattering can help characterize local charge distributions around catalytic metal centers in short-lived charge-transfer excited states, as a step toward future rationalization and tailoring of photocatalytic capabilities of transition-metal complexes. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01429 SN - 1948-7185 VL - 9 IS - 12 SP - 3538 EP - 3543 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schreck, Simon A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Sellberg, Jonas A. A1 - McQueen, Trevor A1 - Laksmono, Hartawan A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Schlesinger, Daniel A1 - Nordlund, Dennis A1 - Ogasawara, Hirohito A1 - Sierra, Raymond G. A1 - Segtnan, Vegard H. A1 - Kubicek, Katharina A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Dakovski, Georgi L. A1 - Moeller, Stefan P. A1 - Bergmann, Uwe A1 - Techert, Simone A1 - Pettersson, Lars G. M. A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Bogan, Michael J. A1 - Harada, Yoshihisa A1 - Nilsson, Anders A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Reabsorption of soft x-ray emission at high x-ray free-electron laserfluences JF - Physical review letters N2 - We report on oxygen K-edge soft x-ray emission spectroscopy from a liquid water jet at the Linac Coherent Light Source. We observe significant changes in the spectral content when tuning over a wide range of incident x-ray fluences. In addition the total emission yield decreases at high fluences. These modifications result from reabsorption of x-ray emission by valence-excited molecules generated by the Auger cascade. Our observations have major implications for future x-ray emission studies at intense x-ray sources. We highlight the importance of the x-ray pulse length with respect to the core-hole lifetime. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.153002 SN - 0031-9007 SN - 1079-7114 VL - 113 IS - 15 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER -