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Simultaneous, enantiomer-specific identification of chiral molecules in multi-component mixtures is extremely challenging. Many established techniques for single-component analysis fail to provide selectivity in multi-component mixtures and lack sensitivity for dilute samples. Here we show how enantiomers may be differentiated by mass-selected photoelectron circular dichroism using an electron–ion coincidence imaging spectrometer. As proof of concept, vapours containing ∼1% of two chiral monoterpene molecules, limonene and camphor, are irradiated by a circularly polarized femtosecond laser, resulting in multiphoton near-threshold ionization with little molecular fragmentation. Large chiral asymmetries (2–4%) are observed in the mass-tagged photoelectron angular distributions. These asymmetries switch sign according to the handedness (R- or S-) of the enantiomer in the mixture and scale with enantiomeric excess of a component. The results demonstrate that mass spectrometric identification of mixtures of chiral molecules and quantitative determination of enantiomeric excess can be achieved in a table-top instrument., Detecting enantiomers in dilute mixtures of volatile organic compounds is a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate a method to identify enantiomers and enantiomeric excess in a multi-component mixture containing two chiral species using laser mass spectrometry and photoelectron circular dichroism.

Photoionization cross sections and partial ion yields of Xe and XeF$_2$ from Xe 3d$_{5/2}$, Xe 3d$_{3/2}$, and F 1s subshells in the 660--740 eV range are compared to explore effects of the F ligands. The Xe 3d - $\epsilon$f continuum shape resonances dominate the photoionization cross sections of both the atom and molecule, but prominent resonances appear in the XeF$_2$ cross section due to nominal excitation of Xe 3d and F 1s electrons to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), a delocalized anti-bonding MO. The subshell ionization thresholds, the LUMO resonance energies and their oscillator strengths are calculated by relativistic coupled-cluster methods. Several charge states and fragment ions are produced from the atom and molecule due to alternative decay pathways from the inner-shell holes. Total and partial ion yields vary in response to the shape resonances and LUMO resonances. Previous calculations and measurements of atomic Xe 3d core-hole decay channels and our calculated results for XeF$_2$ guide interpretations of the molecular ion products. The partial ion yields of XeF$_2$ are dominated by Xe 3d core-hole decays, but distinct ion products are measured at the F 1s - LUMO resonance. Xe 3d core-hole decays from XeF$_2$ produce lower charge states in comparison with atomic Xe, and energetic F ions are produced by Coulomb explosions of the molecular ions. The measurements support a model of molecular core-hole decay that begins with a localized hole, stepwise Auger electron emission spreads charge across neighboring atoms, and the system fragments energetically.

Here we report on a new simplified setup for velocity map photoelectron-photoion coincidence imaging using only a single particle detector. We show that both photoelectrons and photoions can be extracted toward the same micro-channel-plate delay line detector by fast switching of the high voltages on the ion optics. This single detector setup retains essentially all the features of a standard two-detector coincidence imaging setup, viz., the high spatial resolution for electron and ion imaging, while only slightly decreasing the ion time-of-flight mass resolution. The new setup paves the way to a significant cost reduction in building a coincidence imaging setup for experiments aiming to obtain the complete correlated three-dimensional momentum distribution of electrons and ions. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Here, we provide a detailed account of novel experiments employing electron-ion coincidence imaging to discriminate chiral molecules. The full three-dimensional angular scattering distribution of electrons is measured after photoexcitation with either left or right circular polarized light. The experiment is performed using a simplified photoelectron-photoion coincidence imaging setup employing only a single particle imaging detector. Results are reported applying this technique to enantiomers of the chiral molecule camphor after three-photon ionization by circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses at 400 nm and 380 nm. The electron-ion coincidence imaging provides the photoelectron spectrum of mass-selected ions that are observed in the time-of-flight mass spectra. The coincident photoelectron spectra of the parent camphor ion and the various fragment ions are the same, so it can be concluded that fragmentation of camphor happens after ionization. We discuss the forward-backward asymmetry in the photoelectron angular distribution which is expressed in Legendre polynomials with moments up to order six. Furthermore, we present a method, similar to one-photon electron circular dichroism, to quantify the strength of the chiral electron asymmetry in a single parameter. The circular dichroism in the photoelectron angular distribution of camphor is measured to be 8% at 400 nm. The electron circular dichroism using femtosecond multiphoton excitation is of opposite sign and about 60% larger than the electron dichroism observed before in near-threshold one-photon ionization with synchrotron excitation. We interpret our multiphoton ionization as being resonant at the two-photon level with the 3s and 3p Rydberg states of camphor. Theoretical calculations are presented that model the photoelectron angular distribution from a prealigned camphor molecule using density functional theory and continuum multiple scattering X alpha photoelectron scattering calculations. Qualitative agreement is observed between the experimental results and the theoretical calculations of the Legendre moments representing the angular distribution for the two enantiomers. The electron-ion coincidence technique using multiphoton ionization opens new directions in table-top analytical mass-spectrometric applications of mixtures of chiral molecules.

The control of multichannel ionic fragmentation dynamics in CF3I is studied by femtosecond pulse shaping and velocity map photoelectron photoion coincidence imaging. When CF3I is photoexcited with femtosecond laser pulses around 540 nm there are two major ions observed in the time-of-flight mass spectrum, the parent CF3I+ ion and the CF3+ fragment ion. In this first study we focussed on the influence of LCD-shaped laser pulses on the molecular dynamics. The three-dimensional recoil distribution of electrons and ions were imaged in coincidence using a single time-of-flight delay line detector. By fast switching of the voltages on the various velocity map ion lenses after detection of the electron, both the electron and the coincident ion are measured with the same imaging detector. These results demonstrate that a significant simplification of a photoelectron-photoion coincidence imaging apparatus is in principle possible using switched lens voltages. It is observed that shaped laser fields like chirped pulses, double pulses, and multiple pulses can enhance the CF3+/CF3I+ ratio by up to 100%. The total energetics of the dynamics is revealed by analysis of the coincident photoelectron spectra and the kinetic energy of the CF3+ and I fragments. Both the parent CF3I+ and the CF3+ fragment result from a five-photon excitation process. The fragments are formed with very low kinetic energy. The photoelectron spectra and CF3+/CF3I+ ratio vary with the center wavelength of the shaped laser pulses. An optimal enhancement of the CF3+/CF3I+ ratio by about 60% is observed for the double pulse excitation when the pulses are spaced 60 fs apart. We propose that the control mechanism is determined by dynamics on neutral excited states and we discuss the results in relation to the location of electronically excited (Rydberg) states of CF3I.