Fig. 2: Methanetetrol’s potential energy surface.

Gas-phase potential energy surfaces for (A) C(OH)4 (in singlet electronic state) and (B) C(OH)4+ (in doublet electronic state). Energies relative to the minimum energy S4 conformer of each charge state include an associated error of ±4 kJ mol−1 indicated by the gray area. All solid lines connecting energy levels indicate isomerization while dashed lines represent dissociative reaction pathways. Experimental photon energies are indicated with colored horizontal lines.