An atom-by-atom view of a photochemical ring opening reaction

An atom-by-atom view of a photochemical ring opening reaction | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article An atom-by-atom view of a photochemical ring opening reaction Daniel Rolles, Enliang Wang, Surjendu Bhattacharyya, Keyu Chen, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4651606/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version 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. Physical sciences/Physics/Atomic and molecular physics/Atomic and molecular interactions with photons Physical sciences/Chemistry/Photochemistry Physical sciences/Chemistry/Physical chemistry/Chemical physics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMovie1.mp4 Supplementary Movie 1 SupplementaryMovie2.mp4 Supplementary Movie 2 SupplementaryInformationNature.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4651606","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":342469162,"identity":"8c8ce33e-31f7-49d7-a134-dd9fdfd498b4","order_by":0,"name":"Daniel 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