Ultrafast Charge Migration Following Valence Ionization of 4-Methylphenol: Jumping over the Aromatic Ring†

Abstract

Electronic many-body effects alone can be responsible for the migration of a positive charge created upon ionization in molecular systems. Here, we report an ultrafast charge migration taking place after valence ionization of the molecule 4-methylphenol. The results obtained by a fully ab initio methodology show that the positive charge localized initially on the methyl group can migrate to the hydroxyl group in less than 2 fs jumping over the whole aromatic ring.