Revealing Deactivation Pathways Hidden in Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectra

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy is commonly employed with the intention to monitor electronic excited-state dynamics occurring in a neutral molecule. With the help of theory, we show that when excited-state processes occur on similar time scales the different relaxation pathways are completely obscured in the total photoionization signal recorded in the experiment. Using non-adiabatic molecular dynamics and Dyson norms, we calculate the photoionization signal of cytosine and disentangle the transient contributions originating from the different deactivation pathways of its tautomers. In the simulations, the total signal from the relevant keto and enol tautomers can be decomposed into contributions either from the neutral electronic state populations or from the distinct mechanistic pathways across the multiple potential surfaces. The lifetimes corresponding to these contributions cannot be extracted from the experiment, thereby illustrating that new experimental setups are necessary to unravel the intricate non-adiabatic pathways occurring in polyatomic molecules after irradiation by light.