Conformation-Selective Resonant Photoelectron Spectroscopy via Dipole-Bound States of Cold Anions

Molecular conformation is important in chemistry and biochemistry. Conformers connected by low energy barriers can only be observed at low temperatures and are difficult to be separated. Here we report a new method to obtain conformation-selective spectroscopic information about dipolar molecular radicals via dipole-bound excited states of the corresponding anions cooled in a cryogenic ion trap. We observed two conformers of cold 3-hydroxyphenoxide anions [m-HO(C6H4)O(-)] in high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and measured different electron affinities, 18,850(8) and 18,917(5) cm(-1), for the syn and anti 3-hydroxyphenoxy radicals, respectively. We also observed dipole-bound excited states for m-HO(C6H4)O(-) with different binding energies for the two conformers due to the different dipole moments of the corresponding 3-hydroxyphenoxy radicals. Excitations to selected vibrational levels of the dipole-bound states result in conformation-selective photoelectron spectra. This method should be applicable to conformation-selective spectroscopic studies of any anions with dipolar neutral cores.