Aqueous Solution Chemistry of Ammonium Cation in the Auger Time Window.

ABSTRACT: We report on chemical reactions triggered by core-level ionization of ammonium ([Formula: see text]) cation in aqueous solution. Based on a combination of photoemission experiments from a liquid microjet and high-level ab initio simulations, we identified simultaneous single and double proton transfer occurring on a very short timescale spanned by the Auger-decay lifetime. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the proton transfer to a neighboring water molecule leads to essentially complete formation of H₃O⁺ (aq) and core-ionized ammonia [Formula: see text](aq) within the ~7 fs lifetime of the nitrogen 1s core hole. A second proton transfer leads to a transient structure with the proton shared between the remaining NH₂ moiety and another water molecu

SUBMITTER: Hollas D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5429669 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature