Time-resolved photoelectron imaging of the iodide–thymine and iodide–uracil binary cluster systems

Abstract

The energetics and dynamics of thymine and uracil transient negative ions were examined using femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging. The vertical detachment energies (VDEs) of these systems were found to be 4.05 eV and 4.11 eV for iodide-thymine (I(-) x T) and iodide-uracil (I(-) x U) clusters, respectively. An ultraviolet pump pulse was used to promote intracluster charge transfer from iodide to the nucleobase. Subsequent electron detachment using an infrared probe pulse monitored the dynamics of the resulting transient negative ion. Photoelectron spectra reveal two primary features: a near-zero electron kinetic energy signal attributed to autodetachment and a transient feature representing photodetachment from the excited anion state. The transient state exhibits biexponential decay in both thymine and uracil complexes with short and long decay time constants ranging from 150-600 fs and 1-50 ps, respectively, depending on the excitation energy. However, both time constants are systematically shorter for I(-) x T. Vibrational autodetachment and iodine loss are identified as the primary decay mechanisms of the transient negative ions of thymine and uracil.