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Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Coulomb Explosion Imaging as a Tool to Distinguish Between Stereoisomers
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Radial Coupling at Conical Intersection Governs Competing Fragmentation Pathways in Halomethane Cations

Yupeng Liu1, Cong-Cong Jia2, Peipei Ge1

  • 1Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics and School of Physics, Wuhan 430074, China.

Physical Review Letters
|February 22, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Researchers achieved selective bond cleavage in halomethane cations using laser fields. They found that controlling radial coupling strength at conical intersections dictates whether C-Cl or C-H bonds break, enabling laser-driven reaction control.

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