Photodissociation of simple aromatic molecules in a molecular beam

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An overview is presented of our recent experimental studies of aromatic molecules using multimass ion imaging techniques. Photodissociation of benzene, fluorobenzene, toluene, m-xylene, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene and chlorotoluene at 248 nm or 193 nm was investigated under collisionless conditions. The photofragment translational energy distribution and dissociation rate of each dissociation channel were recorded. New isomerization and dissociation channels were observed from these studies. The data are discussed with reference to the ab initio potential energy surface and statistical theory results.