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Using time-resolved Coulomb-explosion imaging, the authors capture a 600 fs pseudorotation in the benzene cation, revealing coherent vibronic dynamics around a conical intersection and visualizing transient structural variations.

Inter-particle reactions in weakly bound systems are often difficult to pinpoint by detecting exclusively the kinetic energy of the produced ions. Here the authors present a full-coincidence experiment, where inter-particle reaction channels are determined by the measurement of all outgoing particles.

The authors study intermolecular Coulomb decay that occurs in a sample of THF and water in a reaction microscope employing triple-coincidence measurements of two ions and one electron. They find that ICD is a previously unconsidered effect between water and other organic molecules that are hydrogen-bonded, with ICD outpacing proton transfer.

Proton transfer plays a key role in nature, yet its ultrafast dynamics remain elusive. Here the authors use coincidence spectroscopy and theoretical simulations to show that radiolytic doubly-ionized pyrrole triggers proton transfer to water within 60 fs.

Capturing the detailed structural evolution of electronic excited states is a challenging but critical step to understand and control ultrafast molecular dynamics. Here, combining a Coulomb explosion imaging approach and molecular dynamics simulations, the authors retrieve the transient geometry of the ground and excited states of D2O mono- and dication with few femtosecond, few picometre accuracy.

Higher-order aromatic clusters are prevalent in biochemical systems, but a full understanding of their structural and dynamical properties is lacking. Here, the authors demonstrate that inner-valence ionization can induce ultrafast relaxation and further fragmentation mechanisms in benzene trimers.

Aromatic systems that interact non-covalently are important in many settings, such as base-pair stacking and DNA–drug interactions; however, their excited-state molecular dynamics are not fully understood. Now, intermolecular Coulombic decay in benzene dimers has been observed. The process is initiated by electron-impact ionization and proceeds through ultrafast energy transfer between the benzene molecules.

Reactions induced by low-energy electrons in hydrated systems are central to radiation therapy, but a full understanding of their mechanism is lacking. Here the authors investigate the electron-impact induced ionization and subsequent dissociation of tetrahydrofuran, model for biochemically relevant systems, in a micro-solvated environment.

Low-energy electrons from intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) relaxation can contribute to radiation damage. Here, using multi-particle momentum coincidence spectroscopy and high-level electronic structure calculations, the authors show that the presence of sulfur in inner-valence orbitals leads to an enhancement in the emission of ICD low-energy electrons in thiophene.