From Femtosecond Excited-State and Dissociation Dynamics to Nanosecond Reaction Kinetics: Following C-H Bond Activation with X-rays

• DOI: 10.1364/up.2022.tu1a.2
• Publication Date: 2022-09-22T16:51:55Z
• Authors: Raphael M. Jay; Ambar Banerjee; Torsten Leitner; Robert Stefanuik; Ru-Pan Wang; Jessica Harich; Emma Beale; Victoria Kabanova; Abdullah Kahraman; Anna Wach; Dimitri Ozerov; Christopher A. Ar...; Philip J. M. Johnson; Grigory Smolentsev; Thomas Huthwelker; Camilia N. Borca; Claudio Cirelli; Camila Bacellar; Christopher J. Milne; Nils Huse; Michael Odelius; Philippe Wernet
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

Using ultrafast X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we observe how a rhodium carbonyl catalyst is formed on femtosecond timescales and reveal the decisive orbital interactions which facilitate the efficient cleavage of an alkane C-H bond from solution.