Nuclear motion captured by the slow electron velocity imaging technique in the tunnelling predissociation of the S1 methylamine

Predissociation dynamics of methylamines (CH3NH2 and CH3ND2) on the first electronically excited states are studied using the slow-electron velocity imaging method to unravel the multi-dimensional nature of the N-H(D) chemical bond dissociation reaction which occurs via tunnelling. The nearly free internal rotation around the C-N bond axis is found to be strongly coupled to the reaction pathway, revealing nuclear motions actively involved in the tunnelling process on the S-1 potential energy surfaces. The vibrational state-resolved energy and angular distributions of photoelectron, ejected from the ionization mediated by the metastable intermediate S-1 state provide a unique way for mapping the predissociative potential energy surfaces. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3675566]