Elucidating Norrish Type-I reactive pathways by ultrafast X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Graßl, Martin, Unzueta, Pablo, Hillers-Bendtsen, Andreas E., Liu, Yusong, Hait, Diptarka, Green, Alice E., Cheng, Xinxin, Allum, Felix, Driver, Taran, Forbes, Ruaridh, Glownia, James. M., Isele, Erik, Larsen, Kirk A., Li, Xiang, Lin, Ming-Fu, Obaid, Razib, Summers, Adam, Thierstein, Emily, Wang, Jun, Cryan, James P., Kling, Matthias F., Martinez, Todd J., Wolf, Thomas J. A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Graßl, Martin
Unzueta, Pablo
Hillers-Bendtsen, Andreas E.
Liu, Yusong
Hait, Diptarka
Green, Alice E.
Cheng, Xinxin
Allum, Felix
Driver, Taran
Forbes, Ruaridh
Glownia, James. M.
Isele, Erik
Larsen, Kirk A.
Li, Xiang
Lin, Ming-Fu
Obaid, Razib
Summers, Adam
Thierstein, Emily
Wang, Jun
Cryan, James P.
Kling, Matthias F.
Martinez, Todd J.
Wolf, Thomas J. A.
author_facet Graßl, Martin
Unzueta, Pablo
Hillers-Bendtsen, Andreas E.
Liu, Yusong
Hait, Diptarka
Green, Alice E.
Cheng, Xinxin
Allum, Felix
Driver, Taran
Forbes, Ruaridh
Glownia, James. M.
Isele, Erik
Larsen, Kirk A.
Li, Xiang
Lin, Ming-Fu
Obaid, Razib
Summers, Adam
Thierstein, Emily
Wang, Jun
Cryan, James P.
Kling, Matthias F.
Martinez, Todd J.
Wolf, Thomas J. A.
contents Norrish type I reactions selectively cleave carbon-carbon bonds directly adjacent to carbonyl groups. Despite their broad use in combination with aromatic carbonyls for additive manufacturing and dental UV curing applications, the nature of the photochemically active state and its population mechanism remain insufficiently understood. Detailed mechanistic insight requires mapping of the photoexcited population flow involving internal conversion and intersystem crossing. We present a time-domain study of gas phase acetophenone as a prototypical aromatic carbonyl combining soft X-ray time-resolved near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (TR-NEXAFS) spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge with ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) simulations. Exploiting the specific sensitivity of TR-NEXAFS spectroscopy to states with $nπ^*$ character, we observe population transfer from the initially excited $^1ππ^*$ state to the $^1nπ^*$ state with a time constant of $(0.13 \pm 0.02)$ ps after an initial induction period of $(0.12 \pm 0.02)$ ps without population transfer, in quantitative agreement with the AIMS simulations. The population in the $^1nπ^*$ state subsequently decays via intersystem crossing, likely mediated by a $^3ππ^*$ state, within $(3.17 \pm 0.66)$ ps to a long-lived $^3nπ^*$ state, which is presumed to be active towards Norrish type I chemistry.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_18339
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Elucidating Norrish Type-I reactive pathways by ultrafast X-ray absorption spectroscopy
Graßl, Martin
Unzueta, Pablo
Hillers-Bendtsen, Andreas E.
Liu, Yusong
Hait, Diptarka
Green, Alice E.
Cheng, Xinxin
Allum, Felix
Driver, Taran
Forbes, Ruaridh
Glownia, James. M.
Isele, Erik
Larsen, Kirk A.
Li, Xiang
Lin, Ming-Fu
Obaid, Razib
Summers, Adam
Thierstein, Emily
Wang, Jun
Cryan, James P.
Kling, Matthias F.
Martinez, Todd J.
Wolf, Thomas J. A.
Chemical Physics
Norrish type I reactions selectively cleave carbon-carbon bonds directly adjacent to carbonyl groups. Despite their broad use in combination with aromatic carbonyls for additive manufacturing and dental UV curing applications, the nature of the photochemically active state and its population mechanism remain insufficiently understood. Detailed mechanistic insight requires mapping of the photoexcited population flow involving internal conversion and intersystem crossing. We present a time-domain study of gas phase acetophenone as a prototypical aromatic carbonyl combining soft X-ray time-resolved near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (TR-NEXAFS) spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge with ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) simulations. Exploiting the specific sensitivity of TR-NEXAFS spectroscopy to states with $nπ^*$ character, we observe population transfer from the initially excited $^1ππ^*$ state to the $^1nπ^*$ state with a time constant of $(0.13 \pm 0.02)$ ps after an initial induction period of $(0.12 \pm 0.02)$ ps without population transfer, in quantitative agreement with the AIMS simulations. The population in the $^1nπ^*$ state subsequently decays via intersystem crossing, likely mediated by a $^3ππ^*$ state, within $(3.17 \pm 0.66)$ ps to a long-lived $^3nπ^*$ state, which is presumed to be active towards Norrish type I chemistry.
title Elucidating Norrish Type-I reactive pathways by ultrafast X-ray absorption spectroscopy
topic Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.18339