Nuclear motion captured by the slow electron velocity imaging technique in the tunnelling predissociation of the S1 methylamine

• Published in: The Journal of chemical physics Vol. 136; no. 2; p. 024306
• Main Authors: Ahn, Doo-Sik, Lee, Jeongmook, Park, Young Choon, Lee, Yoon Sup, Kim, Sang Kyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 14-01-2012
• Subjects: Electrons; Methylamines - chemistry; Motion; Quantum Theory
• ISSN: 1089-7690
• DOI: 10.1063/1.3675566

Predissociation dynamics of methylamines (CH(3)NH(2) and CH(3)ND(2)) on the first electronically excited states are studied using the slow-electron velocity imaging method to unravel the multi-dimensional nature of the N-H(D) chemical bond dissociation reaction which occurs via tunnelling. The nearly free internal rotation around the C-N bond axis is found to be strongly coupled to the reaction pathway, revealing nuclear motions actively involved in the tunnelling process on the S(1) potential energy surfaces. The vibrational state-resolved energy and angular distributions of photoelectron, ejected from the ionization mediated by the metastable intermediate S(1) state provide a unique way for mapping the predissociative potential energy surfaces.