First observation of four-body breakup in electron recombination: C2D+5

Area of Science:

• Chemical Physics
• Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Physical Chemistry

Background:

• Electron dissociative recombination is a key process in plasma chemistry and astrophysics.
• Molecular ions are crucial intermediates in many chemical reactions.
• Understanding bond-breaking mechanisms is fundamental to chemical dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the dissociation pathways of the C2D+5 molecular ion during electron recombination.
• To determine the branching ratio of specific fragmentation channels.
• To report the first observation of a four-body breakup in this type of reaction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an ion storage ring experiment to study the electron dissociative recombination of C2D+5.
• Measured the branching ratios for different reaction products.
• Analyzed the fragmentation patterns resulting from the electron-ion collision.

Main Results:

• Observed and quantified a four-body breakup process for C2D+5.
• Determined the branching ratio for the specific channel C2D+5 + e(-) --> C2D2 + D + D + D to be 13%.
• Demonstrated the breaking of three covalent chemical bonds by a single electron.

Conclusions:

• This study presents the first experimental evidence of a four-body breakup in low-energy electron dissociative recombination of a molecular ion.
• The observed fragmentation highlights complex bond-breaking dynamics initiated by a single electron.
• This finding opens new avenues for understanding chemical bond dynamics in molecular systems.