Exploring three-body fragmentation of acetylene trication

• Published in: The Journal of chemical physics Vol. 158; no. 7; p. 074302
• Main Authors: Yadav, Jatin, Safvan, C P, Bhatt, Pragya, Kumari, Pooja, Singh, Jasmeet, Rajput, Jyoti
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 21.02.2023
• ISSN: 1089-7690
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0135441

The three-body breakup of [C H ] formed in collision with Xe moving at 0.5 atomic units of velocity is studied by using recoil ion momentum spectroscopy. Three-body breakup channels leading to (H , C , CH ) and (H , H , C ) fragments are observed in the experiment and their kinetic energy release is measured. The breakup into (H , C , CH ) occurs via concerted and sequential modes, whereas the breakup into (H , H , C ) shows only the concerted mode. By collecting events coming exclusively from the sequential breakup leading to (H , C , CH ), we have determined the kinetic energy release for the unimolecular fragmentation of the molecular intermediate, [C H] . By using ab initio calculations, the potential energy surface for the lowest electronic state of [C H] is generated, which shows the existence of a metastable state with two possible dissociation pathways. A discussion on the agreement between our experimental results and these ab initio calculations is presented.