X-ray imaging of chemically active valence electrons during a pericyclic reaction

Timm Bredtmann (), Misha Ivanov and Gopal Dixit ()
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Timm Bredtmann: Max Born Institute, Max-Born-Strasse 2A, 12489 Berlin, Germany
Misha Ivanov: Max Born Institute, Max-Born-Strasse 2A, 12489 Berlin, Germany
Gopal Dixit: Max Born Institute, Max-Born-Strasse 2A, 12489 Berlin, Germany

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Time-resolved imaging of chemically active valence electron densities is a long-sought goal, as these electrons dictate the course of chemical reactions. However, X-ray scattering is always dominated by the core and inert valence electrons, making time-resolved X-ray imaging of chemically active valence electron densities extremely challenging. Here we demonstrate an effective and robust method, which emphasizes the information encoded in weakly scattered photons, to image chemically active valence electron densities. The degenerate Cope rearrangement of semibullvalene, a pericyclic reaction, is used as an example to visually illustrate our approach. Our work also provides experimental access to the long-standing problem of synchronous versus asynchronous bond formation and breaking during pericyclic reactions.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6589

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