Photodissociation of permanganate (MnO4β) produces the manganese dioxide anion (MnO2β) in an excited triplet state†
Abstract
Photoelectron imaging, electron action spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations are used to probe the structure and dynamics of MnO4β. Following excitation to the first bright absorption band of MnO4β (11T2), photodetachment, via ground state electron loss, and photodissociation, to produce MnO2β, are both observed to occur simultaneously. MnO2β is produced in an excited electronic state, identified as a triplet state, which indicates that the dissociation proceeds on singlet potential energy surfaces via spin conservation. Furthermore, electronic structure calculations indicate that both photodetachment and photodissociation are multiple photon processes that are mediated by the same 11T2 excited state. Taken together this data indicates that photodissociation of MnO4β occurs via a statistical dissociation on the MnO4β ground state at visible wavelengths.
- This article is part of the themed collection: Molecular Dynamics in the Gas Phase