Wilson Quevedo

Orbital-specific mapping of the ligand exchange dynamics of Fe(CO)(5) in solution

Transition-metal complexes have long attracted interest for fundamental chemical reactivity studies and possible use in solar energy conversion. Electronic excitation, ligand loss from the metal centre, or a combination of both, creates changes in charge and spin density at the metal site that need to be controlled to optimize complexes for photocatalytic hydrogen production and selective carbon–hydrogen bond activation. An understanding at the molecular level of how transition-metal complexes catalyse reactions, and in particular of the role of the short-lived and reactive intermediate states involved, will be critical for such optimization. However, suitable methods for detailed characterization of electronic excited states have been lacking. Here we show, with the use of X-ray laser-based femtosecond-resolution spectroscopy and advanced quantum chemical theory to probe the reaction dynamics of the benchmark transition-metal complex Fe(CO)5 in solution, that the photo-induced removal of CO generates the 16-electron Fe(CO)4 species, a homogeneous catalyst with an electron deficiency at the Fe centre, in a hitherto unreported excited singlet state that either converts to the triplet ground state or combines with a CO or solvent molecule to regenerate a penta-coordinated Fe species on a sub-picosecond timescale. This finding, which resolves the debate about the relative importance of different spin channels in the photochemistry of Fe(CO)5 (refs 4, 16,17,18,19 and 20), was made possible by the ability of femtosecond X-ray spectroscopy to probe frontier-orbital interactions with atom specificity. We expect the method to be broadly applicable in the chemical sciences, and to complement approaches that probe structural dynamics in ultrafast processes.

A setup for resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering on liquids at free electron laser light sources

We present a flexible and compact experimental setup that combines an in vacuum liquid jet with an x-ray emission spectrometer to enable static and femtosecond time-resolved resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements from liquids at free electron laser (FEL) light sources. We demonstrate the feasibility of this type of experiments with the measurements performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source FEL facility. At the FEL we observed changes in the RIXS spectra at high peak fluences which currently sets a limit to maximum attainable count rate at FELs. The setup presented here opens up new possibilities to study the structure and dynamics in liquids.

Dissecting Local Atomic and Intermolecular Interactions of Transition-Metal Ions in Solution with Selective X-ray Spectroscopy

Determining covalent and charge-transfer contributions to bonding in solution has remained an experimental challenge. Here, the quenching of fluorescence decay channels as expressed in dips in the L-edge X-ray spectra of solvated 3d transition-metal ions and complexes was reported as a probe. With a full set of experimental and theoretical ab initio L-edge X-ray spectra of aqueous Cr(3+), including resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, we address covalency and charge transfer for this prototypical transition-metal ion in solution. We dissect local atomic effects from intermolecular interactions and quantify X-ray optical effects. We find no evidence for the asserted ultrafast charge transfer to the solvent and show that the dips are readily explained by X-ray optical effects and local atomic state dependence of the fluorescence yield. Instead, we find, besides ionic interactions, a covalent contribution to the bonding in the aqueous complex of ligand-to-metal charge-transfer character.

Femtosecond x-ray photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase dibromobenzene molecules

We present time-resolved femtosecond photoelectron momentum images and angular distributions of dissociating, laser-aligned 1,4-dibromobenzene (C6H4Br2) molecules measured in a near-infrared pump, soft-x-ray probe experiment performed at an x-ray free-electron laser. The observed alignment dependence of the bromine 2p photoelectron angular distributions is compared to density functional theory calculations and interpreted in terms of photoelectron diffraction. While no clear time-dependent effects are observed in the angular distribution of the Br(2p) photoelectrons, other, low-energy electrons show a pronounced dependence on the time delay between the near-infrared laser and the x-ray pulse.

A liquid flatjet system for solution phase soft-x-ray spectroscopy

We present a liquid flatjet system for solution phase soft-x-ray spectroscopy. The flatjet set-up utilises the phenomenon of formation of stable liquid sheets upon collision of two identical laminar jets. Colliding the two single water jets, coming out of the nozzles with 50 μm orifices, under an impact angle of 48° leads to double sheet formation, of which the first sheet is 4.6 mm long and 1.0 mm wide. The liquid flatjet operates fully functional under vacuum conditions (<10−3 mbar), allowing soft-x-ray spectroscopy of aqueous solutions in transmission mode. We analyse the liquid water flatjet thickness under atmospheric pressure using interferomeric or mid-infrared transmission measurements and under vacuum conditions by measuring the absorbance of the O K-edge of water in transmission, and comparing our results with previously published data obtained with standing cells with Si3N4 membrane windows. The thickness of the first liquid sheet is found to vary between 1.4–3 μm, depending on the transverse and longitudinal position in the liquid sheet. We observe that the derived thickness is of similar magnitude under 1 bar and under vacuum conditions. A catcher unit facilitates the recycling of the solutions, allowing measurements on small sample volumes (∼10 ml). We demonstrate the applicability of this approach by presenting measurements on the N K-edge of aqueous NH4+. Our results suggest the high potential of using liquid flatjets in steady-state and time-resolved studies in the soft-x-ray regime.

From ligand fields to molecular orbitals: Probing the local valence electronic structure of Ni2+ in aqueous solution with resonant inelastic X-ray scattering.

Bonding of the Ni(2+)(aq) complex is investigated with an unprecedented combination of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements and ab initio calculations at the Ni L absorption edge. The spectra directly reflect the relative energies of the ligand-field and charge-transfer valence-excited states. They give element-specific access with atomic resolution to the ground-state electronic structure of the complex and allow quantification of ligand-field strength and 3d-3d electron correlation interactions in the Ni(2+)(aq) complex. The experimentally determined ligand-field strength is 10Dq = 1.1 eV. This and the Racah parameters characterizing 3d-3d Coulomb interactions B = 0.13 eV and C = 0.42 eV as readily derived from the measured energies match very well with the results from UV-vis spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate how L-edge RIXS can be used to complement existing spectroscopic tools for the investigation of bonding in 3d transition-metal coordination compounds in solution. The ab initio RASPT2 calculation is successfully used to simulate the L-edge RIXS spectra.

Viewing the Valence Electronic Structure of Ferric and Ferrous Hexacyanide in Solution from the Fe and Cyanide Perspectives

The valence-excited states of ferric and ferrous hexacyanide ions in aqueous solution were mapped by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Fe L2,3 and N K edges. Probing of both the central Fe and the ligand N atoms enabled identification of the metal- and ligand-centered excited states, as well as ligand-to-metal and metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excited states. Ab initio calculations utilizing the RASPT2 method were used to simulate the Fe L2,3-edge RIXS spectra and enabled quantification of the covalencies of both occupied and empty orbitals of π and σ symmetry. We found that π back-donation in the ferric complex is smaller than that in the ferrous complex. This is evidenced by the relative amounts of Fe 3d character in the nominally 2π CN(-) molecular orbital of 7% and 9% in ferric and ferrous hexacyanide, respectively. Utilizing the direct sensitivity of Fe L3-edge RIXS to the Fe 3d character in the occupied molecular orbitals, we also found that the donation interactions are dominated by σ bonding. The latter was found to be stronger in the ferric complex, with an Fe 3d contribution to the nominally 5σ CN(-) molecular orbitals of 29% compared to 20% in the ferrous complex. These results are consistent with the notion that a higher charge at the central metal atom increases donation and decreases back-donation.

Dynamics of the OH group and the electronic structure of liquid alcohols

In resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) from molecular and liquid systems, the interplay of ground state structural and core-excited state dynamical contributions leads to complex spectral shapes that partially allow for ambiguous interpretations. In this work, we dissect these contributions in oxygen K-edge RIXS from liquid alcohols. We use the scattering into the electronic ground state as an accurate measure of nuclear dynamics in the intermediate core-excited state of the RIXS process. We determine the characteristic time in the core-excited state until nuclear dynamics give a measurable contribution to the RIXS spectral profiles to τdyn = 1.2 ± 0.8 fs. By detuning the excitation energy below the absorption resonance we reduce the effective scattering time below τdyn, and hence suppress these dynamical contributions to a minimum. From the corresponding RIXS spectra of liquid methanol, we retrieve the “dynamic-free” density of states and find that it is described solely by the electronic states of the free methanol molecule. From this and from the comparison of normal and deuterated methanol, we conclude that the split peak structure found in the lone-pair emission region at non-resonant excitation originates from dynamics in the O–H bond in the core-excited state. We find no evidence that this split peak feature is a signature of distinct ground state structural complexes in liquid methanol. However, we demonstrate how changes in the hydrogen bond coordination within the series of linear alcohols from methanol to hexanol affect the split peak structure in the liquid alcohols.

Identification of the dominant photochemical pathways and mechanistic insights to the ultrafast ligand exchange of Fe(CO)5 to Fe(CO)4EtOH

We utilized femtosecond time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and ab initio theory to study the transient electronic structure and the photoinduced molecular dynamics of a model metal carbonyl photocatalyst Fe(CO)5 in ethanol solution. We propose mechanistic explanation for the parallel ultrafast intra-molecular spin crossover and ligation of the Fe(CO)4 which are observed following a charge transfer photoexcitation of Fe(CO)5 as reported in our previous study [Wernet et al., Nature 520, 78 (2015)]. We find that branching of the reaction pathway likely happens in the 1A1 state of Fe(CO)4. A sub-picosecond time constant of the spin crossover from 1B2 to 3B2 is rationalized by the proposed 1B2 → 1A1 → 3B2 mechanism. Ultrafast ligation of the 1B2 Fe(CO)4 state is significantly faster than the spin-forbidden and diffusion limited ligation process occurring from the 3B2 Fe(CO)4 ground state that has been observed in the previous studies. We propose that the ultrafast ligation occurs via 1B2 → 1A1 → 1A′ Fe(CO)4EtOH pathway and the time scale of the 1A1 Fe(CO)4 state ligation is governed by the solute-solvent collision frequency. Our study emphasizes the importance of understanding the interaction of molecular excited states with the surrounding environment to explain the relaxation pathways of photoexcited metal carbonyls in solution.

Principles of femtosecond X-ray/optical cross-correlation with X-ray induced transient optical reflectivity in solids

The discovery of ultrafast X-ray induced optical reflectivity changes enabled the development of X-ray/optical cross correlation techniques at X-ray free electron lasers worldwide. We have now linked through experiment and theory the fundamental excitation and relaxation steps with the transient optical properties in finite solid samples. Therefore, we gain a thorough interpretation and an optimized detection scheme of X-ray induced changes to the refractive index and the X-ray/optical cross correlation response.