RESUMO
Hydride molecular ions are key ingredients of the interstellar chemistry since they are precursors of more complex molecules. In regions located near a soft X-ray source these ions may resonantly absorb an X-ray photon which triggers a complex chain of reactions. In this work, we simulate ab initio the X-ray absorption spectrum, Auger decay processes and the subsequent fragmentation dynamics of two hydride molecular ions, namely CH2+ and CH3+. We show that these ions feature strong X-ray absorption resonances which relax through Auger decay within 7 fs. The doubly-charged ions thus formed mostly dissociate into smaller ionic carbon fragments: in the case of CH2+, the dominant products are either C+/H+/H or CH+/H+. For CH3+, the system breaks primary into CH2+ and H+, which provides a new route to form CH2+ near a X-ray source. Furthermore, our simulations provide the branching ratios of the final products formed after the X-ray absorption as well as their kinetic and internal energy distributions. Such data can be used in the chemistry models of the interstellar medium.
RESUMO
Photoionization of a buckminsterfullerene ion is investigated using an ion trap and a merged beam setup coupled to synchrotron radiation beamlines and compared to theoretical calculations. Absolute measurements derived from the ion trap experiment allow discrepancies concerning the photoionization cross section of C60+ to be solved.
RESUMO
Gas phase VUV single-photon photoionization spectroscopy of electrospray-produced multiply protonated cytochrome c protein (12 kDa) has been performed by means of coupling a linear quadrupole ion trap with a synchrotron beamline. The thresholds for the ionization of the 8+ and 11+ charge state precursors to radical 9+ and 12+ species were measured to be 12.75 ± 0.10 and 13.51 ± 0.10 eV, respectively.