Isomer- and state-dependent ion-molecule reactions between Coulomb-crystallised Ca$^+$ ions and 1,2-dichloroethene

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Hauptverfasser: Xu, Lei, Karl, Richard, Toscano, Jutta, Willitsch, Stefan
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Xu, Lei
Karl, Richard
Toscano, Jutta
Willitsch, Stefan
author_facet Xu, Lei
Karl, Richard
Toscano, Jutta
Willitsch, Stefan
contents We report a systematic investigation of isomer- and state-dependent reactions between Coulomb-crystallised laser-cooled Ca$^+$ ions and \emph{cis/trans}-1,2-dichloroethene (DCE) isomers. By manipulating the electronic state populations of Ca$^+$ through tuning of laser cooling parameters, we observed distinct reactivities in its ground and excited states, as well as with the geometric isomers of DCE. Our experiments revealed two primary reaction channels, formation of CaCl$^+$ and C$_2$HCaCl$^+$, followed by secondary reaction pathways. While excited-state reactions proceed at rate coefficients consistent with capture theory predictions, ground-state reactions show a systematically lower reactivity. \emph{Ab initio} calculations of reaction pathways suggest that this suppression stems from the formation of long-lived reaction complexes. The \textit{cis} isomer was found to exhibit a higher reactivity with all electronic states of Ca$^+$ than its \textit{trans} counterpart. The present study provides insights into the combined effects of molecular structure and quantum states influencing ion-molecule reaction dynamics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_08791
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Isomer- and state-dependent ion-molecule reactions between Coulomb-crystallised Ca$^+$ ions and 1,2-dichloroethene
Xu, Lei
Karl, Richard
Toscano, Jutta
Willitsch, Stefan
Chemical Physics
We report a systematic investigation of isomer- and state-dependent reactions between Coulomb-crystallised laser-cooled Ca$^+$ ions and \emph{cis/trans}-1,2-dichloroethene (DCE) isomers. By manipulating the electronic state populations of Ca$^+$ through tuning of laser cooling parameters, we observed distinct reactivities in its ground and excited states, as well as with the geometric isomers of DCE. Our experiments revealed two primary reaction channels, formation of CaCl$^+$ and C$_2$HCaCl$^+$, followed by secondary reaction pathways. While excited-state reactions proceed at rate coefficients consistent with capture theory predictions, ground-state reactions show a systematically lower reactivity. \emph{Ab initio} calculations of reaction pathways suggest that this suppression stems from the formation of long-lived reaction complexes. The \textit{cis} isomer was found to exhibit a higher reactivity with all electronic states of Ca$^+$ than its \textit{trans} counterpart. The present study provides insights into the combined effects of molecular structure and quantum states influencing ion-molecule reaction dynamics.
title Isomer- and state-dependent ion-molecule reactions between Coulomb-crystallised Ca$^+$ ions and 1,2-dichloroethene
topic Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08791