title: Imaging Molecular Motion: Femtosecond X-Ray Scattering of an Electrocyclic Chemical Reaction.
abstract: Structural rearrangements within single molecules occur on ultrafast time scales. Many aspects of molecular dynamics, such as the energy flow through excited states, have been studied using spectroscopic techniques, yet the goal to watch molecules evolve their geometrical structure in real time remains challenging. By mapping nuclear motions using femtosecond x-ray pulses, we have created real-space representations of the evolving dynamics during a well-known chemical reaction and show a series of time-sorted structural snapshots produced by ultrafast time-resolved hard x-ray scattering. A computational analysis optimally matches the series of scattering patterns produced by the x rays to a multitude of potential reaction paths. In so doing, we have made a critical step toward the goal of viewing chemical reactions on femtosecond time scales, opening a new direction in studies of ultrafast chemical reactions in the gas phase.
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Minitti
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.|Brown University, Department of Chemistry, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Budarz
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kirrander
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ratner
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.|Stanford University, Department of Chemistry, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Glownia
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kozina
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Lemke
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sikorski
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saita
authors.affiliation: Brown University, Department of Chemistry, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stankus
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Northey
authors.affiliation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Hastings
authors.affiliation: Brown University, Department of Chemistry, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Weber