Negative-Ion Formation upon Soft X-ray Photoexcitation of 2-Propanol

TL;DR

This study explores how 2-propanol molecules break apart into negative ions when exposed to soft X-rays, revealing new insights into molecular fragmentation.

Contribution

The study identifies nine new anion fragments and demonstrates the effectiveness of negative-ion/positive-ion coincidence spectroscopy.

Findings

Nine different anions were produced from 2-propanol under soft X-ray excitation.

Two protons were commonly involved in the most frequent three-ion events.

The method provides detailed insight into fragmentation processes of organic molecules.

Abstract

This study investigates the formation of negative ion
fragments
from gas-phase 2-propanol molecules after interaction with soft X-rays
near the O K-edge. The experiment was performed by detecting negative
and positive ions in coincidence with time-of-flight spectrometry.
The analysis of two- and three-ion coincidence data revealed that
nine different anions were produced: H–, C–, CH–, CH2–, O–, OH–, C2–, C2H–, and C3–. For all anions, the most common three-ion events were those involving
two protons. The results highlight the sensitivity of negative-ion/positive-ion
coincidence spectroscopy and provide new insight into the fragmentation
processes of organic molecules under soft X-ray excitation.

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