Time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging of a photochemical ring opening reaction
8 affiliations
- 1Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. [email protected]
- 2J. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA. [email protected]
- 3J. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
- 4Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- 5European XFEL, Schenefeld, Germany
- 6Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany
- 7J. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA. [email protected]
- 8J. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA. [email protected]
Abstract
Photoinduced transformations of organic ring molecules play a crucial role in numerous physical, chemical and biological processes, ranging from biosynthesis of vitamin D to optical switching in molecular electronics. Although the development of a plethora of ultrafast techniques such as time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, ultrafast electron and x-ray diffraction and transient x-ray absorption has recently enabled detailed investigations of the electronic and nuclear dynamics in several ring conversion reactions, direct and unambiguous imaging of the nuclear motion, especially during the first 100 fs of a reaction, is still a major challenge. As a consequence, the reaction mechanisms often remain controversial even for extensively studied prototypical systems. Here we show how time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging can be used to directly map the molecular ring rearrangement upon ultraviolet excitation of gas-phase furan, a reaction for which widely contradicting predictions and observations have been reported. By directly imaging the motion of the individual atoms of the carbon backbone of the molecule upon excitation at 198 nm, we reveal the presence of a strong ring-opening pathway that is completed in less than 70 fs. With the development of higher repetition rate lasers, we anticipate that our approach will enable atom-by-atom mapping of a broad range of ultrafast photochemical reactions.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026timeresolved,
title = {{Time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging of a photochemical ring opening reaction}},
author = {Enliang Wang and Surjendu Bhattacharyya and Keyu Chen and Kurtis Borne and Farzaneh Ziaee and Shashank Pathak and Huynh Van Sa Lam and Anbu Selvam Venkatachalam and Xingyu Guo and Xiangjun Chen and Rebecca Boll and Till Jahnke and Artem Rudenko and Daniel Rolles},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-75191-6},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75191-6},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging of a photochemical ring opening reaction
AU - Enliang Wang
AU - Surjendu Bhattacharyya
AU - Keyu Chen
AU - Kurtis Borne
AU - Farzaneh Ziaee
AU - Shashank Pathak
AU - Huynh Van Sa Lam
AU - Anbu Selvam Venkatachalam
AU - Xingyu Guo
AU - Xiangjun Chen
AU - Rebecca Boll
AU - Till Jahnke
AU - Artem Rudenko
AU - Daniel Rolles
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/06
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-75191-6
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75191-6
AB - Photoinduced transformations of organic ring molecules play a crucial role in numerous physical, chemical and biological processes, ranging from biosynthesis of vitamin D to optical switching in molecular electronics. Although the development of a plethora of ultrafast techniques such as time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, ultrafast electron and x-ray diffraction and transient x-ray absorption has recently enabled detailed investigations of the electronic and nuclear dynamics in several ring conversion reactions, direct and unambiguous imaging of the nuclear motion, especially during the first 100 fs of a reaction, is still a major challenge. As a consequence, the reaction mechanisms often remain controversial even for extensively studied prototypical systems. Here we show how time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging can be used to directly map the molecular ring rearrangement upon ultraviolet excitation of gas-phase furan, a reaction for which widely contradicting predictions and observations have been reported. By directly imaging the motion of the individual atoms of the carbon backbone of the molecule upon excitation at 198 nm, we reveal the presence of a strong ring-opening pathway that is completed in less than 70 fs. With the development of higher repetition rate lasers, we anticipate that our approach will enable atom-by-atom mapping of a broad range of ultrafast photochemical reactions.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -